UK scraps VAT on online publishing to boost lockdown readership

Britain will stop charging value-added tax on digital publishing from Friday, seven months ahead of schedule, in order to boost online readership of newspapers and e-books during the coronavirus shutdown, the finance ministry said.

Printed books and newspapers have long been exempt from the sales tax.

It also said newspapers would receive up to 35 million pounds ($44 million)in additional government advertising revenue over the next three months as part of its coronavirus communications campaign. ($1 = 0.7999 pounds)