A place card is not on HMRC's list by name, so it is judged on the characteristics at 3.3, and it fails several of them at once. It is not conveying information to be read, it is not distributed in quantity for general reading, and its function is to be used at the table, which is the wording the notice uses for what takes an item outside the meaning of a leaflet. Table numbers, table plans and name cards all sit in the same place, and so does the printed table plan on a board, which is a sheet intended for display.
What decides it?
Used on the table rather than read. That is the whole of it.
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
Printed place cards for a wedding breakfast20%
Used for a specific purpose in its own right, not held and read.
A mounted table plan for the entrance20%
A sheet intended for display, which 4.1 standard-rates.
The order of service for the same day0%
Orders of service are listed as zero-rated and named as an exception at 3.3.
