Owing to the predominance of taxable supplies in the publishing sector most publishers will not have a restriction in their entitlement to VAT recovery.
However, they should nonetheless consider the rules around input tax credit described in V4.4. In particular, publishers should be aware of input tax that is specifically blocked, such as business entertainment expenditure. Input tax excluded from credit is described in V3.440鈥揤3.450.
In addition, certain promotional schemes run by newspaper and magazine publishers could result in challenges to VAT recovery (see below).
Frequently, newspapers and magazines will run promotion schemes to increase sales of their publications. The VAT implications can be complex and varied depending on the nature of the scheme.
HMRC suggests that where a newspaper (and presumably any other publisher) buys in services and recovers any associated input tax, then under deeming provisions VAT will be due if the services are passed onto a reader free of charge (see Notice
Web page updated on 17 Mar 2025 14:29
