Thumbing Through Pages Made Heavy by VAT- EDITORIAL

Book publishers in Sri Lanka are up in arms against the existing Value Added Tax (VAT) that’s charged on books. There is a saying ‘Reading maketh a full man’. But this saying by philosopher Francis Bacon might not be applicable to Sri Lanka in the future. Publishing books in Sri Lanka is a challenge given that there is a charge of 18% as VAT on books, which publishers deem as exorbitant. 

VAT is charged from the raw materials imported, then the process goes on to tax an entire production value added chain up to the point of sales; making book prices rather unaffordable. The Sri Lanka Book Publishers’ Association pointed out at a media briefing held on December 10 in Colombo, that Sri Lanka could be the only country in the SAARC region that imposes VAT on books. 

The present lawmakers of this country must understand that Sri Lanka is now experiencing an era where people have an urge for education. If individuals cannot get the desired education here, in State Universities, they seek that opportunity abroad. Among these seekers of education is a fair share of individuals who can be classified as avid readers. Their grievance which comes in the form of ‘buying power being reduced’ when purchasing books must be heard. 

Even during this year’s Colombo International Book Fair, as observed during the recent past, there were fewer book stalls. If the number of readers reduce in numbers what would that indicate? There is the phrase ‘this person is well read’. And doing exactly that helps an individual build his or her image and be counted at a place of employment. All people don’t have gifted brains and access to university education, hence books are needed to catch up on lost education. 

Books are needed for a country’s population to grow intellectually. Books are needed to teach us about the human side of life. Our education must not restrict ambitious individuals to learning the workings of nuts, bolts and chains inside a machine, but also teach them to inquire why a child is crying and why an old lady living alone hasn’t opened the main door of her house in two days. Books can make even the most insensitive people to shed a tear and even accommodate the thought that there are others who live in this world. Books teach you to give and take; one of the best places to get accustomed to this is the lending and borrowing section of a library. And libraries are full of books which promise wonderful stories; not forgetting such facilities also have places where you can take a book and escape from this mundane world which threatens to frame you in a plastic mindset. 

But the very idea of buying or owning a book is threatened due to the presence of VAT. Critics have begun to underscore that Sri Lanka may have violated the UNESCO Florence Agreement of 1950 which prohibits member states from imposing taxes on intellectual property. This whole tax exercise has a trickle-down effect on the publishing industry. Publishing houses as a result are struggling to increase salaries of employees, pursue new investments or even think of new investments. 

This new regime harps on the fact that a country must be administered by educated people. The majority of voters of this country would second that! But didn’t we have lawmakers in the past who didn’t qualify for university, but were feared for the knowledge they exhibited at times of debate, thanks to the reading habit. 

The Sri Lanka Book Publishers’ Association has urged the government to consider exempting books from being subject to taxes from the next budget. Let’s hope that this regime hears this call loud and clearly and responds positively for the sake of the present generation.