RE: Savings for Electronic only and VAT rates [was: FREE TRIAL ACCESS TO AIP ONLINE ARCHIVES (fwd)]

[David Ball <dball@bournemouth.ac.uk>]

In the UK the position is even more extreme: print (and generally bundled
print and electronic) subscriptions are zero-rated; electronic
subscriptions are rated at 17.5%.  Discounts need to be at least 20%
before libraries break even.

There is also a fear that VAT at 17.5% will be extended to print,
particularly while public discussions of the problem continue to draw
attention to the anomaly.  If this happens publishers will see their
revenue from print subscriptions fall by at least 17.5%.

*********************************************
David Ball
Associate Head of Academic Services
(University Librarian)
Bournemouth University
Fern Barrow
Poole, Dorset 	BH12 5BB
UK
Tel.: +44 (0)1202-595044
Fax.: +44 (0)1202-595475
*********************************************



> ----------
> From: 	Bernd-Christoph Kaemper[SMTP:kaemper@ub.uni-stuttgart.de]
> Reply To: 	liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
> Sent: 	13 September 2000 22:55
> To: 	liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
> Subject: 	Savings for Electronic only and VAT rates [was: FREE TRIAL
> ACCESS TO AIP ONLINE ARCHIVES (fwd)]
> 
> David,  you wrote
> 
> > A savings of 10% for electronic only is just not that attractive in most
> > circumstances. If publishers would like to encourage the transition to
> > electronic subscriptions, they should do just what your organization has
> > done, and offer a 50 percent savings.
> 
> This is especially true for us in Europe where we have to pay a VAT rate
> for electronic products which is 9% higher than the normal reduced VAT
> rate for books and journals which is 7% here in Germany (the figures are
> slightly different for other countries). This is the reason why we tend to
> prefer offers where electronic access is simply included with the print
> subscription, and why going electronic only usually saves us nothing or
> very little.
> 
> Bernd-Christoph Kaemper <kaemper@ub.uni-stuttgart.de>
> Subject Specialist for Physics and Electrical Engineering,
> Stuttgart University Library, P.O. Box 10 49 41, 70043 Stuttgart, Germany