4.1 is one sentence long: sheets intended for public display are standard-rated. That covers posters and the whole family of things printed to be seen across a room, and it is the mirror image of the leaflet characteristic at 3.3, which is that a leaflet is intended to be held in the hand for reading by individuals rather than hung up for general display. Shelf strips, wobblers, window bills, header cards and pull-up graphics all fall the same way, and most are on plastic or board anyway, which section 2 puts outside Group 3 since it is restricted to goods produced on paper and similar materials such as card. The one thing to keep separate is the poster-magazine at 3.6, which is zero-rated as a periodical.
What decides it?
Displayed to a room, or held and read by one person.
Where does this come from?
HMRC VAT Notice 701/10, paragraph 4.1, HMRC's guidance on zero rating books and printed matter. See the notices we work from.
Some real jobs
A2 posters for shop windows20%
Sheets intended for public display are standard-rated.
Shelf wobblers and header cards20%
Display items, and mostly not paper or card in any case.
A poster-magazine folded into magazine format, issued regularly0%
3.6 zero-rates poster-magazines as periodicals where they are issued at regular intervals.
