HMRC's A to Z names memorial cards and wreath cards. A card given out at a funeral is kept, which is what puts it on that side of the list. The order of service is treated differently and deliberately so: 3.3 says items printed on laminated paper are designed to be kept and therefore not leaflets, and then makes one exception in the whole notice, that orders of service are not normally designed to be kept and may be zero-rated. So a funeral order will often be two items at two rates, and that is the expected result rather than a mistake.
What decides it?
The card is kept, so it is standard-rated. The order of service has its own exception.
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
Memorial cards given to mourners20%
Memorial and wreath cards are listed as standard-rated.
The order of service for the same funeral0%
3.3 makes orders of service an express exception to the kept-and-laminated rule.
