If you're an avid reader of e-books, as I am, then you may have noticed today that an awful lot of these have suddenly become a lot more expensive. This is because of one of those EU initiatives designed to remove a tax loophole whilst, simultaneously, placing a huge burden on the businesses and individuals that pay those taxes. Basically, VAT can no longer be based on the country in which the retailer is based when selling across the EU. This loophole had been the reason why so many were, ostensibly, based in Luxembourg so as to take advantage of the 3% VAT rate there. Now you have to charge the VAT rate prevalent in the country of each consumer. This means, in the U.K., that the tax charged on e-books (and don't get me started on why e-books attract VAT but print books don't) has jumped from 3% to 20% overnight. Authors can therefore either leave things alone and let their readers pay the higher prices, or reduce their 'cut' accordingly (because nobody else, such as the publisher, is going to) and keep prices the same.
'Nostlagedy' fans will be delighted to learn that the granny, the duck and the pantry door will be staying at their 2014 prices even whilst their author is heading for the soup kitchen ;-)
still only 99p
still only £1.99
still only £1.49
No comments:
Post a Comment