Letter headings sit among HMRC's stationery, and 4.2 gives the reason in one line: stationery items such as account books and exercise books fall outside the zero rate. A letterhead is a sheet supplied to be written or printed on later, so it conveys no information in itself and nothing about it is ephemeral in the way a leaflet is. The comparison worth knowing is 4.3: the same sheet printed with the whole letter on it, and no name or address added, may qualify as a leaflet. The blank sheet is stationery, the finished letter can be printed matter.
What decides it?
Blank stationery, or a letter that is already complete.
Where does this come from?
HMRC VAT Notice 701/10, section 8, HMRC's guidance on zero rating books and printed matter. See the notices we work from.
Some real jobs
2,000 sheets of letterhead20%
Letter headings are listed as standard-rated stationery.
The same stock printed with a complete unpersonalised letter0%
An uncompleted stock letter may qualify as a leaflet under 4.3.
A charity's letterhead20%
The charity concession covers appeal stationery, and expressly not general stationery.
