Zero-rated book or standard-rated diary?

The taxpayer was based in Iceland (outside the EU) but sold an action day planner (ADP) in the UK through an Amazon platform. The product consisted of 16 pages of text about time management skills and a further 52 pages of double page planners intended to be completed with tasks and goals for the days in question. 

The taxpayer claimed it was a zero rated book that was designed to ‘help people to grow; to teach and instruct people time management skills’. HMRC’s view was that the planner was a diary and therefore an item of stationery subject to VAT at the standard rate. It raised an assessment for the inaccuracy along with penalties.

The First-tier Tribunal concluded that the planner had the physical characteristics of a book and its main function was to educate and inform users about time management and prioritisation skills. It considered the 52 copies of the...