The European Commission is taking infringement action against Luxembourg and France over their reduced VAT rates (3% in Luxembourg and 7% in France) applied to e-books. The Commission believes the reduced rates are ‘creating serious distortions of competition that are damaging to economic operators in the other 25 Member States since digital books can easily be purchased in a State other than the one where the consumer resides and, under the current rules, the VAT rate applied is that of the provider’s, not the customer’s, Member State’.
The European Commission is taking infringement action against Luxembourg and France over their reduced VAT rates (3% in Luxembourg and 7% in France) applied to e-books. The Commission believes the reduced rates are ‘creating serious distortions of competition that are damaging to economic operators in the other 25 Member States since digital books can easily be purchased in a State other than the one where the consumer resides and, under the current rules, the VAT rate applied is that of the provider’s, not the customer’s, Member State’.