How Much VAT? by Tenfold

Is there VAT on posters?

Posters are standard-rated (20% VAT) in the UK under HMRC VAT Notice 701/10, paragraph 4.1.

Wanted: twenty per cent.Reward: none.
WANTED20% VAT

Posters

20% VAT

Anything made to go on a wall or be displayed is standard-rated. The zero rate is for things you hold and read.

HMRC VAT Notice 701/10, paragraph 4.1

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Why are posters 20%?

HMRC needs one line for posters, at 4.1, and it turns entirely on function rather than on size or material: sheets intended for public display. It's why a poster and a leaflet can be the same sheet of paper and attract different rates: a leaflet is held and read by one person, a poster is put up for people to look at. Size and substrate are worth knowing because they're what everyone asks about, but neither switches the rate on its own.

What decides it?

Display or reading. Something put up for people to look at is 20%, however it's printed.

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

  • An A2 gig poster for a venue wall20%

    Intended for public display.

  • The same artwork at A5, handed out as a flyer0%

    Now it's held and read by one person, which is what the zero rate is for.

  • A large-format poster printed on paper rather than board20%

    Still a sheet for display. The material doesn't change what it's for.

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