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Denmark eliminates 25% book tax to combat declining reading skills [1]

['Séamus Bellamy']

Date: 2025-08-22

In a world of digital distractions, instant gratification, gaming, and 24-hour televised doom, folks seem to be reading fewer books than ever. But Denmark's not having any of it. The Nordic nation doesn't want the brains of its citizens bounded in a nutshell—it was noted in a 2021 survey that reading skills of the country's kids were in a steep decline. According to the New York Times, the country's leadership is taking steps to make reading more attractive to its citizens.

Currently, there's a 25% tax on books, which any reader will tell you was already frigging expensive. It's one of the highest tax rates on goods in Europe. So, Denmark is axing the tax on paperbacks, folio editions, and every kind of book in between. For funsies, they've included digital books in the mix, too: "The gift of reading and being able to concentrate on a book is something we should give to the younger generations," Mr. Engel-Schmidt [Denmark's culture minister] said. Encouraging people to read, he added, would promote literacy as well as the development of Danish culture. He pointed to worries over the overuse of social media, and said that in some cases, a book could cost more than the monthly charge for a streaming service.

As fine an idea as it is to make reading material more accessible to the Danish masses, there's no way of knowing whether getting rid of the tax will sway people to turn more pages in their free time. It'd be great to see the United States follow suit… or, at the very least, stop banning books that everyone should have an opportunity to read.

Previously:

• Denmark is 0.07 seconds behind the world

• Denmark latest country to issue travel warning for the U.S.

• Denmark to plant a billion trees

• Visit the Fairy Doors Trail in the town of Denmark, Australia

• Worried about Trump buying Greenland? Help Denmark buy California

• Queen of Denmark abdicates after 52 years on throne

• Bitcoin transactions could consume as much energy as Denmark by the year 2020

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[1] Url: https://boingboing.net/2025/08/22/denmark-eliminates-25-book-tax-to-combat-declining-reading-skills.html

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