Michael Creed
Ceist:32 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Finance if he will consider reducing the levels of VAT on the newspaper industry in view of the threat to employment in the print media.
Written Answers. - VAT on Newspapers.
The rate of VAT on newspaper in Ireland is the reduced rate of 12.5 per cent. Newspapers became subject to that rate in the 1993 budget when, as part of a general realignment of the VAT rating system, the 10 per cent rate, which had applied to newspapers since 1985, was abolished.
I have no plans to reduce the rate of VAT on newspapers. I am aware, of course, of the difficulties facing Irish newspapers, particularly in terms of competition from newspapers published abroad, but I would point out that all newspapers sold in this country attract the same rate of VAT, regardless of where they are published.
I am also aware of the competition for advertising revenue from other media, but, in that connection, I would refer to the concession in last year's Finance Act which extended the 10 per cent rate of corporation tax to the advertising revenue of newspapers. This initiative is, in my view, of far greater potential benefit to the industry in Ireland than a VAT rate concession.