About this checker | How Much VAT?

Guidance, not advice

This is general guidance about how HMRC's published rules apply to printed matter. It is not tax advice, and using it does not make us your adviser.

Every answer is our reading of HMRC's guidance, not a ruling. HMRC can take a different view of a particular job.
A real job can turn on facts this tool does not have: what the item is for, how it is supplied, and what it is supplied with.
Before you rely on a rate for an invoice, a VAT return or a quote, check it with your accountant or with HMRC.

To the extent the law allows, Tenfold Ltd accepts no liability for any loss arising from use of this checker, including VAT charged or reclaimed in error, penalties, interest, or lost profit. Nothing here limits liability that cannot be limited by law.

If you think an answer is wrong, tell us and we will fix it. The full terms of use set this out at length, including what we are and are not liable for.

Who makes it

Tenfold Ltd, printers and print managers in Nottingham and London. We built this because customers kept asking us the same question and the existing answers were hard to find. There is no charge and no sign-up: if it helps and you need something printed, ask us for a quote. Our own site is wearetenfold.com.

Where the answers come from

Every answer names the paragraph of HMRC guidance it rests on, so you can check it rather than take our word for it. These are the notices the answers are written from:

HMRC VAT Notice 701/10: Zero rating books and printed matter (version of 31 July 2020)
HMRC VAT Notice 701/14: Food products (version of 8 June 2026)
HMRC VAT Notice 701/58: Goods or services supplied to charities (version of 26 September 2022)

Every day, an automated check asks GOV.UK whether any of those notices has changed. If one has, a banner goes up on every page until the answers have been worked through against the new version. That check tells us a notice has changed. It is not a person re-reading the answers, so nothing here claims a review date.

What it covers, and what it doesn't

Printed matter, in the UK. Not digital files: a PDF or an e-book is outside what this tool answers.
The 20% standard rate and the 0% zero rate, plus the 5% reduced rate in the calculator. Nothing about registration, returns or anything else in your VAT affairs.
Rates, not the rest of VAT. Zero-rated is not the same as exempt. See Guidance, not advice above.
Where an answer depends on something about your job, the checker asks rather than guessing.

If we've got one wrong

Tell us and we will fix it. Email hello@wearetenfold.com with the item and, if you have it, the HMRC paragraph you think applies. A correction that holds up gets made the same week.