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. Here is every EU country, the UK and the US, with a link to the official source for each rate.
This is general information, not tax advice. Rates and rules change, and your own situation matters. Check with the tax authority or an accountant before you decide.
| 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. What the OSS is.
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.
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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