MOVE TO SCRAP VAT IS ‘VITAL LIFELINE’ FOR NEWSPAPERS
THE VAT rate for newspapers will be cut from 9% to 0% from January 1 next, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has announced. The cut comes after lobbying from media groups, with Taoiseach Micheál Martin saying in New York last week that he was ‘positively disposed’ to abolishing the tax. Mr Martin said Fianna Fáil was doing everything possible to ‘enable media to survive, particularly print media, in what is a very difficult environment’. Ciaran Cannon, Fine Gael TD for Galway East, said: ‘This is a really welcome move to protect journalism, to protect the truth, in a world of disinformation.’ He described the tax cut as a ’vital lifeline’ to good journalism, to ‘those who are writing our history’. The 9% rate was one of the highest in Europe. Conor O’Donnell, group editor Irish Mail Newspapers, said: ‘Throughout the pandemic, amid a fog of disinformation online, people turned to trusted news sources to inform them what was really happening in the world. ‘People turned to newspapers for their commitment to accuracy, fact-checking and fairness. They relied on newspapers to guide them through the era of Donald Trump’s fake news and, even more recently, the propaganda perpetrated in the shameful war in Ukraine. ‘The announcement by Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe to reduce VAT on newspapers from 9% to 0% from January 1, 2023, is an acknowledgement of the importance of reporting what is true and what is false. But newspapers do more than that. ‘Mr Donohoe acknowledged the role of newspapers, “from reporting on local communities to holding those in power to account”. In a digital culture where clicks are king, it is often forgotten how valuable newspapers are in breaking stories such as the Tuam babies or the Beacon Hospital providing vaccines in a private school, both Irish Mail stories,’ he said. ‘This is a turbulent time for newspapers. This VAT reduction is a welcome boost to our commitment to break stories, hold power to account and put into context the ongoing changes in society in an accessible and informed way,’ said Mr O’Donnell.
CEO of DMG Media Paul Henderson said: ‘Engaging audiences through great content is at the heart of what we do in the Irish publishing industry and today Mr Donohoe and the Government acknowledged this by removing VAT on newspapers.’
‘The minister called out the important work done for our society through a free and independent media sector.
‘This is an important move which our industry representative body, News Brands, led by Ann Marie Lenihan, has campaigned on for decades.’
Ms Lenihan, whose organisation News Brands represents all print and online national newspapers in Ireland, thanked the Government for ‘recognising the value of newspaper journalism in society and democracy’.
‘People turned to trusted sources’