Moves to cut VAT rate on newspapers backed in lower house

A proposal by the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia to cut the VAT rate on newspapers has won backing in the lower house of parliament. The move to cut the current 15 percent rate to 10 percent was passed at first reading. It now goes to the upper house, the Senate. The move was initially opposed by the government, partly on the grounds that it would cut tax earnings by around 500 million crowns a year and also due to misgivings whether sales would rise. Finance Minister Andrej Babiš, the owner of two national newspapers, did not vote on the issue.