Denmark fights the “reading crisis” by doing away with the book tax.

In an attempt to address a “reading crisis,” the Danish government has declared that it will eliminate a 25% sales tax on books. One of the highest taxes in the world is this one. Jacob Engel-Schmidt, the minister of culture, said he believes that removing it would result in more books being taken off the shelf.

An estimated 330 million kroner ($50 million, £38 million) will be spent annually on the measure. A quarter of Danish 15-year-olds are unable to comprehend a simple text, according to data from the OECD, an intergovernmental think tank.

“The reading crisis has unfortunately been spreading in recent years,” said Engel-Schmidt. He added that he was “incredibly proud” of the move to scrap the tax.

He said “massive money should be spent on investing in the consumption and culture” of the Danish people.

The Value Added Tax (VAT) on books is 14%, 6%, and 0% in Finland, Sweden, and Norway, which also have a normal VAT of 25% like Denmark. Books are also VAT-free in the UK. According to surveys, Danish teens’ reading and comprehension skills are deteriorating, according to Mads Rosendahl Thomsen, vice-chair of the government’s literary working group.

Younger children can easily improve their reading skills “but at 15 the ability to understand a text is pretty important”, he told. The numbers were “pretty shocking,” he said, referring to the OECD research.

Young people struggle with reading because they have “so many options” and can be “easily distracted”. He said removing VAT on books was not a complete solution, but it would make books “more accessible”.

The government’s literary working group also examined the influence on authors’ compensation, the digitization of the book business, and strategies for exporting Danish writing.