EU Rules That Ebooks Are an 'Electronic Service' And Subject to Higher Tax

Not all books are equal, said the European Union this week, ruling that ebooks sold in Europe constitute an "electronically supplied service" and so are subject to a higher rate of value-added tax (VAT) than physical books. This means that buying ebooks is likely to become more expensive in some countries, as booksellers raise their prices to pass the cost of increased VAT rates onto customers.

This change will primarily affect France and Luxembourg - the two countries that prompted the ruling after petitioning the EU's Court of Justice