Under the QST system, the sale of a printed book that has an International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a zero-rated sale.

Generally speaking, the following items are printed books:

• product catalogues
• annual reports and financial statements
• admissions guides of educational institutions
• student yearbooks
• brochures
• books of sheet music
• conference kits
• activity books (such as colouring books and books of Sudoku puzzles, crossword puzzles, word searches, mazes or connect-the-dot puzzles)

However, the following items are not printed books:

• ruled notebooks
• accounting books
• downloaded text of conferences
• newspapers
• periodicals

The sale of an item that is not a book but that has an ISBN number, such as software or an electronic document on CD-ROM, is a taxable sale.