Audiobooks are a source of listening pleasure but come with a tax penalty. (Image: PA)
Campaigners have urged Labour to end the “persecution” of blind people and scrap the 20 per cent VAT charge that is slapped on audiobooks but not books made out of paper.
The Republic of Ireland axed VAT on audiobooks this year, but Labour says it has “no current plans” to drop the tax.
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Former minister for disabled people Sir Mike Penning said the Government was guilty of “discrimination” and was “persecuting people who can’t read a book”.
He said: “Other countries have decided to address this. It appears, as usual, we are behind the curve.”
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James Bartlett of the Royal National Institute of Blind People said: “Reading is reading, whatever your format, and there is no reason blind and partially sighted people should be taxed on an activity where sighted people aren’t.”
Anna Ganley, chief executive of the Society of Authors, said: “Removing the VAT on audiobooks would amount to axing a tax on reading, a tax on knowledge and a barrier to accessibility.”
She claimed audiobooks were a “lifeline” for people with sight loss, dyslexia or other reading.
Monday’s debate follows the introduction of a draft law by Labour MP Sarah Owen which would “restrict the sale of the loudest rockets that explode high in the sky” and impose a 90 decibel noise limit.
She said: “Antisocial fireworks are not just annoying, they cause distress for pets and service dogs, and have a serious impact on those with PTSD or special educational needs.”
However, Treasury Minister James Murray said, “There are no current plans to remove VAT on audiobooks”.
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Stressing the importance of VAT to the public finances, he said: “VAT is the UK’s second-largest tax, forecast to raise ￡171 billion in 2024-25. Tax breaks reduce the revenue available for vital public services and must represent value for money for the taxpayer.”
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He added that “evidence suggests that businesses only partially pass on any savings from lower VAT rates”.
VAT was scrapped on e-books, which can be read on electronic devices, in 2020, and audiobooks were disappointed not included in the tax reform.
When the Conservatives were in power, the Government defended the tax on audiobooks, arguing that “a book is deemed to be something that is read or looked at, a definition that does not include audio content in either digital or physical form”.