This is the shortest rule in the notice and the one that costs people the most money. HMRC says it considers items printed on laminated paper are designed to be kept and therefore not leaflets. It is not about durability in the abstract, and it is not a judgement about your paper: lamination is read as evidence of purpose. There is one stated exception, and it is a narrow one. The notice goes straight on to say that orders of service are not normally designed to be kept and may be zero-rated. Nothing else gets that treatment, so a laminated flyer, menu or price sheet is standard-rated however leaflet-like it would otherwise be. Items that are zero-rated as books or brochures rather than leaflets are a different question: this rule is written about leaflets.
What decides it?
Lamination. On a leaflet it settles the matter, and only orders of service are excepted.
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
An A5 flyer, gloss laminated both sides20%
HMRC treats laminated items as designed to be kept, so they are not leaflets.
An order of service with a laminated cover0%
The notice makes orders of service the exception: they are not normally designed to be kept.
A perfect-bound book with a laminated cover0%
It is zero-rated as a book. The lamination rule is written about leaflets.
