Books are zero-rated (0% VAT) in the UK under HMRC VAT Notice 701/10, paragraph 3.1.
Books
0% VAT
Books and booklets are zero-rated. Pages of reading matter bound together, with or without a cover.
HMRC VAT Notice 701/10, paragraph 3.1
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A book normally consists of text or illustrations bound in a cover stiffer than its pages, and HMRC accepts it in any language or characters, including Braille and shorthand, and whether it is printed, photocopied, typed or handwritten, so long as it is found in book form. The zero-rated list at 3.1 is broad: literary works, reference books, directories and catalogues, antique books, permanently bound collections of letters or documents, and loose-leaf books and manuals with or without their binder. Two things fall outside. Books of plans or drawings for industrial, architectural, engineering or commercial purposes are excluded by the law itself, and products that are essentially stationery items, with diaries and address books named, are standard-rated however well bound.
Whether it is pages to read or a stationery item to write in. Binding quality decides nothing.
If your printer does the design, typesetting or finishing as part of the same zero-rated print job, that work can be zero-rated too. Design bought separately from a studio is a standard-rated service.
HMRC VAT Notice 701/10, paragraph 3.1, HMRC's guidance on zero rating books and printed matter. See the notices we work from.
Text bound in a cover stiffer than its pages.
Typed and handwritten matter qualifies, and theses are listed as zero-rated.
Essentially a stationery item, which HMRC names alongside diaries.
Plans and drawings for architectural or engineering purposes are excluded in any format.