VAT and sales tax
What tax readers pay on your books, country by country
Most countries tax books at a lower rate than other goods, and many now treat ebooks the same as print. Audiobooks are where they differ most. Every EU country, the UK and the US, each rate linked to its official source.
General guidance, checked against official sources. It is not tax advice. Rates and rules change, and your own situation matters. Check with the tax authority or an accountant before you decide.
Checked by Dario Griffo, founder of Lanternbee, on .
| Country | Printed books | Ebooks | Audiobooks | Standard rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | 10% | 10% | 10% | 20% |
| Belgium | 6% | 6% | — | 21% |
| Bulgaria | 9% | 9% | — | 20% |
| Croatia | 5% | 5% | — | 25% |
| Cyprus | 3% | 3% | — | 19% |
| Czechia | 0% | 0% | 0% | 21% |
| Denmark | 25% | 25% | 25% | 25% |
| Estonia | 9% | 9% | — | 24% |
| Finland | 13.5% | 13.5% | 13.5% | 25.5% |
| France | 5.5% | 5.5% | 5.5% | 20% |
| Germany | 7% | 7% | 7% | 19% |
| Greece | 6% | 6% | 6% | 24% |
| Hungary | 5% | 27% | 27% | 27% |
| Ireland | 0% | 0% | 0% | 23% |
| Italy | 4% | 4% | — | 22% |
| Latvia | 5% | 5% | — | 21% |
| Lithuania | 5% | 5% | — | 21% |
| Luxembourg | 3% | 3% | — | 17% |
| Malta | 5% | 5% | 5% | 18% |
| Netherlands | 9% | 9% | 9% | 21% |
| Poland | 5% | 5% | — | 23% |
| Portugal | 6% | 6% | 6% | 23% |
| Romania | 11% | 11% | — | 21% |
| Slovakia | 5% | 5% | 5% | 23% |
| Slovenia | 5% | 5% | — | 22% |
| Spain | 4% | 4% | 4% | 21% |
| Sweden | 6% | 6% | 6% | 25% |
| United Kingdom | 0% | 0% | 20% | 20% |
| United States | Sales tax, set by each state. How it works | |||
A dash means we could not confirm that rate from an official source; the country page says why. Each country page has the details, the special cases and a source link for every rate.
Selling digital books into the EU
The rate is the one where the reader lives. Small sellers based in one EU country can use their home rate until their cross-border sales pass €10,000 a year. Most sellers file one quarterly return for every EU country through the One-Stop Shop. The EU guide below explains each step.
Selling into the US
There is no national sales tax. Each state sets its own rules, and some tax ebooks and audiobooks while others do not. A state can ask you to collect once your sales there pass its threshold. How US sales tax works for books.
How EU VAT works when a reader in the EU buys from you
Ebooks and audiobooks: the reader’s country
A download sold to a reader, not a business, is taxed where the reader lives. So a reader in France pays the French rate, wherever you are. European Commission, place of taxation.
The €10,000 threshold
If your business is based in just one EU country, and your sales to readers in other EU countries stay at or under €10,000 a year (this year and last), you can charge your own country’s VAT instead. Digital sales and shipped print books count together. Sellers based outside the EU get no threshold for digital sales: VAT is due from the first sale. Commission OSS guide.
The One-Stop Shop (OSS)
Instead of registering in every country, you register once and file one return every quarter that covers all your EU sales. Your home tax office passes the VAT on to each country. EU-based sellers use the Union scheme. Sellers outside the EU use the non-Union scheme for ebooks and audiobooks. EU One-Stop Shop. OSS in plain words.
Paperbacks and hardbacks sent across a border
A printed book shipped from one EU country to a reader in another is a distance sale. It falls under the same €10,000 threshold. Over it, the rate is the one where the parcel ends up, here the rate for printed books in the reader’s country, and it goes on the same OSS return. Commission OSS guide.
Who charges the VAT when you sell on Lanternbee
You do. Each author connects their own Stripe account, so you are the seller and the money goes straight to you. At checkout, Stripe Tax works out the right rate for where the reader is and adds it to the order. It collects tax in the places where you have added a tax registration in Stripe, so you still register where you need to, file the returns and pay what you collected. Stripe on tax registrations.
We plan to take EU VAT on ebooks off your hands by acting as the merchant of record for digital editions. That is planned, not live. Today, you are the seller.
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