Instruction leaflets and manuals are usually zero-rated (0% VAT) in the UK, but only if they meet HMRC's conditions: supplied as printed matter (if it comes free inside a product you sell, it follows the product's rate) (HMRC VAT Notice 701/10, paragraph 3.3).
PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL
Step one: read the manual.Step two: zero-rate it.Step three: sigh.
Instruction leaflets and manuals
0% VAT
Instruction manuals and leaflets that come with a product are zero-rated.
HMRC VAT Notice 701/10, paragraph 3.3
0% as long as it's:
Supplied as printed matter (if it comes free inside a product you sell, it follows the product's rate)
Need these printed?
Tell Tenfold the quantity, size and deadline. We'll put together a quote for your job.
Two paragraphs cover this: instruction manuals appear in the A to Z, and loose-leaf books, manuals or instructions appear at 3.1, which applies whether or not they come with their binder. Leaflets get there by a second route: HMRC says a leaflet may be designed to accompany some other product or service and gives an instruction leaflet as the example, so the usual worry that a leaflet must be ephemeral does not apply here. The complication is not the printing, it is what it is sold with. If the manual goes free inside a product you are selling, the whole thing is one supply and follows the product's rate, which is why a manual in the box with a standard-rated appliance is not a zero-rated supply of print.
What decides it?
Whether you are supplying printed matter or supplying a product that happens to contain it.
When would instruction leaflets and manuals be charged at 20% VAT?
The zero rate applies as long as it's: supplied as printed matter (if it comes free inside a product you sell, it follows the product's rate). If any one of those isn't true, it isn't zero-rated, so it's 20%.
Is the design and artwork for instruction leaflets and manuals zero-rated too?
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.
Where does this come from?
HMRC VAT Notice 701/10, paragraph 3.3, HMRC's guidance on zero rating books and printed matter. See the notices we work from.
Some real jobs
5,000 stapled A5 instruction booklets printed for a manufacturer0%
A supply of printed matter. Manuals and instructions are zero-rated.
A loose-leaf service manual supplied without its binder0%
HMRC zero-rates loose-leaf manuals whether complete with their binder or not.
The same manual packed free inside a kettle you sell20%
You are supplying a kettle. The printed matter follows the product it comes with.
