Denna pieces of book tax on combating crisis

The Danish government has announced that it will eliminate 25% tax on book sales in an attempt to fight a “reading crisis”.

The tax is one of the highest in the world. Culture Minister Jacob Engel-Schmidt says he hopes to scrap that he will lead to more books flying from the shelves.

The measure is expected to cost about 330 million kroner ($ 50 million, £ 38 million) a year.

OECD data, an intergovernmental tank, show that a quarter of the Danish 15-year-old children cannot understand ordinary text.

“Unfortunately, the reading crisis has spread in recent years,” said Engel-Shmid. He added that he was “incredibly proud” from moving tax.

He said that “massive money should be spent on investing in consumption and culture” of the Danish people.

In Finland, Sweden and Norway – which also have a standard value added tax (VAT) of 25% as Denmark – VAT of books is 14%, 6% and 0% respectively. In the UK, books are also free of vati.

Studies have shown decreasing levels of reading and understanding among Danish teenagers, said Mads Rosendal Thomsen, Vice-Chairman of the Government Working Group of Literature.

Better children can easily improve their reading skills, “but with 15 the ability to understand text is quite important,” he told the BBC.

The numbers were “quite shocking,” he said, citing the OECD study.

Young people are struggling with reading because they have “so many options” and can be “easily distracted”.

He said the removal of VAT of books is not a complete solution, but it will make the books “more accessible”.

The Working Government of the Government in Literature also examined the ways of exporting Danish literature, digitalization in the book market and the impact on the payment of the authors.