“PRINT ART is ART”
On Printmaking Day: Appeal for recognition of screen printing for the reduced VAT rate
It was a long and tough road, but it was worth it: as was last the case in 2014, the reduced VAT rate of 7% for commercial art sales has been in force in Germany again since January 1, 2025. The aim of this regulation is to offer many people and art institutions cheaper access to art – and that’s a good thing!
However, screen printing remains excluded from this tax relief. Back in the mid-1990s, the highest German court ruled that screen printing was not eligible for tax relief as it was not recognized as an original graphic. While original engravings, cuts and lithographs are covered by the tax relief, it is argued that screen prints are not created by the direct impression of a printing plate, but by a through-printing process and therefore not directly by an artist’s hand.
However, this argument fails to recognize the artistic significance of screen printing. It has been a recognized technique for decades and has been used by numerous renowned artists, including Katharina Sieverding, Imi Knoebel and A.R. Penck. Screen prints are often found in limited editions, signed by hand and are of high artistic quality.
It is therefore incomprehensible why artistic forms of expression such as screen printing, which have long been an integral part of the art world, can still not be sold at a reduced tax rate. This regulation contradicts the aim of making art accessible to a broad public.
In addition, the current regulation leads to further unequal treatment: a reduced tax rate for screen printing would only apply if it is purchased directly from the studio – but not if it is purchased via the art trade. This distinction is not objectively justified. It ignores the important role of the art trade in the
cultural mediation and disadvantages public cultural institutions in particular, which often acquire contemporary art through galleries.
The BBK Bundesverband is therefore calling on the forthcoming federal government to correct the existing unequal treatment and finally include screen printing in the list of eligible artworks, thereby ensuring fair access to art and culture.