This is an interesting discussion. On a more general level, my impression is that political proposals of this kind tend to frame cultural problems as social problems and reduce social problems to financial ones: to encourage reading, it should be made more affordable. However, books are easily accessible at low cost: in libraries, public bookcases, as gifts, secondhand, and, if the copyright has expired, for free online. So the problem isn't a „social“ one in the sense of a high economic barrier to entry, but a cultural one in the sense of an environment conducive to reading and an upbringing strong enough to resist the ubiquitous preference for digital devices. But that's not something politicians could simply achieve with popular measures; it requires much more.
25% VAT on books?! That’s so much! In the states it’s ‘sales tax” and is the same across the board for most things (varying state by state), so you get used to it; round up in your head a bit. It typically only hurts on big ticket things.
This isn’t quite right for Denmark, Henry. We live in Denmark and my children grew up here, from ages 5/7/10 through to university age. In the years I collected my smallest child from playdates, only in one house - one, among all the parents we knew from class, in one of the wealthiest areas of the country - was there a bookshelf with more than ten/fifteen books.
Books are *expensive*. New paperbacks are currently 190 kr, which is £22. The new Sally Rooney, for example, is 189.95 kr in paperback. The new Hunger Games prequel in hardback, heavily discounted, is 215 kr (£25). Most new Danish-language popular hardbacks are between 320 and 350 kr (£37 to £40).
So people don’t buy books. (I always get mine in the UK.) Older-fashioned people use the library a lot; younger-fashioned ones just don’t turn to books, or think of them.
Even now, the only people we know with laden bookshelves who are not academics are non-Danes and weird like us. In both cases, they are family books, which we shipped with us and they brought back painstakingly in the boot from car trips home. Before Brexit, there was also Amazon.
So while your main point about habits of thought can’t be denied, Denmark is a bit different.
Some of those people looking at phones and pads may be reading. I spend all of my time reading on flights--on my I-pad, which can carry many books at once.
I agree with you, Henry, about doubting that Danish fifteen year olds really cannot read a whole sentence in a text. I work in DK regularly and am familiar with the system, including the education one. Like other readers have commented, I believe that the "low % of books sold in Denmark" has to do with the unfortunate invasion of Netfllix, influencers and all other persuasive social media that have taken over the time and attention of youngsters and not so young ones alike. :-( So, yes, this VAT cut sounds beneficial for existing readers.
Introducing vat on books. Will squeeze still further the share trickling down to authors, which has already been cut and cut over the last 50 years. Mind you AI is probably going to do that anyway!
This is an interesting discussion. On a more general level, my impression is that political proposals of this kind tend to frame cultural problems as social problems and reduce social problems to financial ones: to encourage reading, it should be made more affordable. However, books are easily accessible at low cost: in libraries, public bookcases, as gifts, secondhand, and, if the copyright has expired, for free online. So the problem isn't a „social“ one in the sense of a high economic barrier to entry, but a cultural one in the sense of an environment conducive to reading and an upbringing strong enough to resist the ubiquitous preference for digital devices. But that's not something politicians could simply achieve with popular measures; it requires much more.
yes I agree, it seems like a tax cut for existing readers
well, I read books on my iPad! I need more light and less weight than a physical book can provide.
I assume they are taxed the same?
25% VAT on books?! That’s so much! In the states it’s ‘sales tax” and is the same across the board for most things (varying state by state), so you get used to it; round up in your head a bit. It typically only hurts on big ticket things.
Crazy right? That said some books seem more expensive in the USA to me
This isn’t quite right for Denmark, Henry. We live in Denmark and my children grew up here, from ages 5/7/10 through to university age. In the years I collected my smallest child from playdates, only in one house - one, among all the parents we knew from class, in one of the wealthiest areas of the country - was there a bookshelf with more than ten/fifteen books.
Books are *expensive*. New paperbacks are currently 190 kr, which is £22. The new Sally Rooney, for example, is 189.95 kr in paperback. The new Hunger Games prequel in hardback, heavily discounted, is 215 kr (£25). Most new Danish-language popular hardbacks are between 320 and 350 kr (£37 to £40).
So people don’t buy books. (I always get mine in the UK.) Older-fashioned people use the library a lot; younger-fashioned ones just don’t turn to books, or think of them.
Even now, the only people we know with laden bookshelves who are not academics are non-Danes and weird like us. In both cases, they are family books, which we shipped with us and they brought back painstakingly in the boot from car trips home. Before Brexit, there was also Amazon.
So while your main point about habits of thought can’t be denied, Denmark is a bit different.
Some of those people looking at phones and pads may be reading. I spend all of my time reading on flights--on my I-pad, which can carry many books at once.
Same but most weren’t
I agree with you, Henry, about doubting that Danish fifteen year olds really cannot read a whole sentence in a text. I work in DK regularly and am familiar with the system, including the education one. Like other readers have commented, I believe that the "low % of books sold in Denmark" has to do with the unfortunate invasion of Netfllix, influencers and all other persuasive social media that have taken over the time and attention of youngsters and not so young ones alike. :-( So, yes, this VAT cut sounds beneficial for existing readers.
Introducing vat on books. Will squeeze still further the share trickling down to authors, which has already been cut and cut over the last 50 years. Mind you AI is probably going to do that anyway!
it is complicated by state tax law and publisher in the US, but I have not noticed any tax on my kindle book purchases.