OA publication costs confirmed to be charged higher VAT rate in the Netherlands

A district Court in the Netherlands sided with the national tax authority and stated that Open Access publication costs must be charged at the higher VAT rate of 21% (rather than the lower rate of 9%, which applies to purchasing material to read). The prevalent view of national tax authorities is that the VAT regime on electronic publications is not applicable to APCs, with the Dutch case being the only one being litigated so far.

Read the full press release here.