With the countdown to Budget 2022 well underway and eagerly anticipated in many business quarters, the representative bodies for Ireland’s national and local news publishers, NewsBrands Ireland and Local Ireland, have joined forces to campaign for zero VAT on print and digital newspapers.
Ireland’s 9% VAT rate for newspapers remains among the highest in Europe, and Ireland is one of the few countries that imposes a high tax on print and digital newspapers. Many other countries such as Denmark, the UK, Belgium, Norway, Austria and France actively support independent journalism through zero or reduced tax along with other supports. Now, because of a recent change to the EU VAT Directive, the Irish goverment can now choose to support independent journalism by cutting VAT to 0% on print and digital newspapers.
According to Ann Marie Lenihan, CEO of NewsBrands Ireland: “VAT on newspapers is a tax on information, learning and democracy. Introducing a 0% VAT rate for newspapers would represent a significant stimulus for both local and national news publishers and would facilitate the ongoing investment required to ensure citizens continue to have access to fact-checked, trusted journalism, which is now more important than ever.
