Taxes kill the book

An IFOP survey shows that the €3 tax on book transport keeps the weakest categories away from reading. Among them, many have reduced their book purchases.

When taxes increase, the weakest suffer. This socialist maxim is true everywhere.

Last October, the government introduced the €3 tax: for any online book purchase, for an amount less than €35, buyers must pay a €3 tax. For the State, what matters is not buying a book, but buying a book in a bookstore. So here is a penalty put in place against those who do not buy their books where they should.

Six months later, a survey carried out by the IFOP lifts the veil on the consequences of this tax: the poorest buy fewer books. And when books are purchased, they are mainly purchased in supermarkets. Leclerc is the leading bookseller in France, no offense to those who swear by “independent” bookstores.

40% of French people read less due to this increase, including more than 50% among the low-income and poor categories (less than €1,300 in monthly income per person per household). When they buy books, more than 70% of French people go to a large brand or a supermarket, compared to 26% who go to an independent bookstore.

Most buy online due to the lack of bookstores near them, but also because of the wider choice and availability of products. If online purchasing is more marked among rural people, it is also very present among urban residents.

The book tax, known as the “Amazon tax” because it was this company that was intended to be punished, ultimately affected the most modest. Amazon is only minimally impacted, especially since its turnover from the sale of books is very modest.

But this tax has also negatively affected many bookstores. The legislator has still not understood that Amazon is a sales platform. That is to say, many booksellers sell their books through Amazon. This is evidenced by the last new book purchased two weeks ago on Amazon and delivered to my home in Toulouse: it was sent to me by a bookseller in Vannes (Brittany). Amazon therefore allows these stores to expand their catchment area and find new customers. One more tax means a book that closes and a bookstore that becomes fragile.

Bravo Diafoirus, another great victory for behavioral taxes.