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Denmark abolishes VAT on books to encourage reading
2025-08-22 21:04:05 / JETË
Denmark will abolish value-added tax (VAT) on books in a bid to encourage more people to read, according to The Guardian.
At 25%, the country's tax rate on books is the highest in the world, a policy the government believes is contributing to a growing "reading crisis."
Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt announced today that the government will propose in the budget bill that the tax on books be abolished. The move is expected to cost 330 million kronor (about £38 million) a year.
"This is something that I, as Minister of Culture, have been working on, because I believe that we have to put everything in place if we want to end the reading crisis that has unfortunately spread in recent years," said Engel-Schmidt.
"I am extremely proud. It is not every day that you manage to convince colleagues to spend such a large amount of money to invest in Danish consumption and culture."
The other Nordic countries also apply the standard 25% VAT rate, but this does not apply to books. VAT on books in Finland is 14%, in Sweden 6% and in Norway zero. Sweden reduced VAT on books in 2001, leading to an increase in book sales, but analysis showed that they were mainly purchased by existing readers.
"We have already allocated money for strengthened cooperation between the country's public libraries and schools, so that more children are introduced to good literature," said Engel-Schmidt.
A total of 8.3 million books were sold in stores and online in Denmark in 2024, according to the national statistics office. The country's population is just over 6 million.
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