The tax of 25 percent for books is currently the highest in Europe. It is in sharp contrast to countries like the United Kingdom, where books are exempt from VAT.
We must do everything we can to address this reading crisis that unfortunately has spread over the past few years, said Minister of Culture Jakob Engel-Schmidt to the news agency Ritzau and announced that the government's budget proposal will suggest that the VAT on books be removed.
The measure is estimated to cost the Danish state around 494 million Swedish kronor per year.
The latest education report from OECD caused concern in Denmark when it showed that 24 percent of Danish 15-year-olds cannot understand a simple text, an increase of four percentage points in ten years.
Denmark's publishing industry has pushed for the VAT reduction and stated in a report in May that the government needs to "guarantee access to physical books for all Danes – both children and adults".
In Sweden, the book VAT is 6 percent.
