Denmark scraps book tax in £38m bid to tackle ‘reading crisis’

The Danish government has announced plans to remove its 25% tax on books in a bid to tackle Denmark’s “reading crisis”.

Previously the highest tax on books in the world, scrapping the tax is expected to cost around DKK330m (£38m).

Culture minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt announced on Wednesday 20th August that the government would propose the removal of the tax in its budget bill.

He said he was “incredibly proud” to remove the tax and that “massive money should be spent on investing in the consumption and culture” of Danish people.

He told the Ritzau news agency: “This is something that I, as minister of culture, have worked for because I believe that we must put everything at stake if we are to end the reading crisis that has unfortunately been spreading in recent years.”

The most recent education report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found that 24% of Danish 15-year-olds could not understand a simple text, up four percentage points in a decade, reports global news agency AFP.

Denmark’s publishing industry has pushed for the tax cut, saying in a May report the government needed to “guarantee access to physical books for all Danes – both children and adults”.

Supported by Danske Forlag, the association of Danish Publishers, the government has already previously increased its funding for reading initiatives.