VAT Again!
The VAT tax issue is the bane of Irish print map publishing, it’s bizarre that print maps are classified along with the ‘Hospitality Sector’. The VAT for this sector rose from 9% to 13.5% back on 1st September. I have been raising this egregious anomaly for several years with the Dept of Finance and had high hopes this year that print maps would be brought into the EU norm and classified with books and newspapers at the zero rate.
Local TDs Malcolm Noonan – Minister of State for Heritage, Kathleen Funchion & John McGuinness all offered to write on the matter prior to this years budget and Malcolm & Kathleen also likewise afterwards. When there was no change in the budget, I hoped that an amendment could be made to the Finance Bill to rectify this. All to no avail, as far as the Dept of Finance is concerned, print maps should be subject to 13.5% VAT and that is that.
Whilst retail outlets will have charged the new rate of 13.5% since 1st Sept, I held off implementing it on our website in the hope of change. So I have been paying the 4.5% extra off our bottom line for the past four months. However I can’t sustain this and our online prices have risen by c€1 per laminated map as of 1st January. I should make it very clear that this increase is no good to us at all, it’s the state taxing you more for our maps.
I used to assume that this anomaly was purely an oversight, however the only logical conclusion now is that this is considered state policy. We fund & produce quality mapping that arguably the state should aspire to, but given most maps are sold below the cost of production, we then end up also paying the state for the privilege of doing this. Why the discrimination? Again the only logical conclusion is that the state which is also a publisher of maps, has used VAT to disadvantage & discourage other map publishers. It’s been used as an anti competitive strategy IMHO and no good will come of it.
#eastwestmapping
