E-books to be taxed at higher rate, court rules

It may be the same old story, but EU judges said an e-book cannot be taxed at the same low rate as a traditional version.

The bloc’s top court ruled that Luxembourg, home to Amazon’s European headquarters, and France, must replace their 3% and 5.5% Vat rates for e-books with far-higher standard levies of 17% and 20%.

EU law only allows reduced rates for the “supply of a book on a physical medium”, the EU Court of Justice in Luxembourg said yesterday. “Admittedly, in order to be able to read an electronic book, physical support, such as a computer, is required. However, such support is not included in the supply of electronic books.”