Culture Minister Raluka Tsurkan does not “believe” that VAT on books will rise from 5% to 19%, saying he has “information to that effect”.

• “I believe that VAT on books will not increase, but will remain the same. I don’t think it will increase and I have information on that.
• As Minister of Culture, I could not remain indifferent to the extremely alarming figures regarding the consumption of books and reading in Romania.
• I decided that the annual program that the ministry is developing with different themes this year should be dedicated to reading and events where publishers meet buyers to increase the consumption of books and, obviously, access to reading,” said Raluka Tsurkan at a press conference in Iasi, reports Agerpres.

Journalists asked her about the warning from the Association of Publishers of Romania regarding the increase of VAT on books from 5% to 19%.

She also showed that in order to stimulate publishing houses to print books, the Ministry of Culture has developed a plan to increase the purchase of books and provide libraries with new editions:

• “This is something that has not been done in the Ministry of Culture for a very long time. I wish that this year and next year we will continue stocking and equipping libraries and reading rooms with books.
• I mean those departments that often exist and function in cultural hostels where school libraries meet, with dedicated staff from the respective cultural hostels. So, I think that the VAT on the book will not increase.”

The board of directors of the Association of Romanian Publishers said two weeks ago that raising the VAT rate on books would be a measure that would reduce sales and increase piracy, given that Romania has the smallest book market per capita in the European Union. , and in any case, sales have been trending downward since the first quarter of this year. Currently, the VAT rate of 5% applies to books, both for the printed version and for the digital version.