Republic of Ireland VAT Changes to Digital Subscription Charges

Are publishers in the Republic of Ireland exempt from VAT? 

The Irish government’s decision to remove value added tax (VAT) from all newspapers and news periodicals was announced in January 2023. This change brings the tax status for digital news and physical newspapers to zero, to promote informed public debate through quality journalism.

How does the VAT reduction affect what I pay for an FT subscription?

The price of a digital FT subscription or a print and digital bundle remains the same. As a subscriber your invoice will include a mention of VAT at 0% instead of 9% from 1 Jan 2023.

Why aren’t you passing the savings on to your customers in the Republic of Ireland?

The FT’s mission to deliver quality journalism has never been more important than it is today, and we are deeply committed to delivering that mission. We will reinvest any savings from the VAT exemption into our people and our products, which means we can continue to deliver, and invest in, the high quality journalism that our readers rely on. 

As a subscriber you will see changes to our offering that include improvements to FT.com, mobile formats, newsletters and video and audio journalism. We are investing in our visual and data journalism and expanding our coverage, with greater emphasis on investigations, developments in technology and international affairs. We are also increasing access to quality news for more people by providing free ft.com content to students in secondary schools.

I have a combined newspaper and FT.com subscription (a ‘bundle’) - am I affected?

No, both the newspaper and your digital FT.com subscription are zero-rated for VAT. You will see this change on your invoices from 1 Jan 2023.

I am an annual subscriber, and I renewed or paid before 1 Jan 2023 for a subscription that continues after 1 Jan 2023. Will I get a refund?

The zero-rating of VAT came into effect on 1 Jan 2023 , so when you paid for your subscription, the VAT was applied at 9%, and the FT will pass that VAT to HMRC.