Apple Updates App Store Taxes and Pricing in Multiple Countries
Apple is adjusting taxes and pricing for apps and in-app purchases on the App Store in several countries, impacting developers globally. these changes, driven by evolving tax regulations and foreign exchange rates, aim to maintain consistent pricing across all storefronts .
Recent Changes – Effective August 21st
As of August 21st, adjustments to developer proceeds have been implemented in the following regions:
* Brazil: A 3.5% Imposto sobre Operações Financeiras (IOF) tax has been applied to eligible app and in-app purchase sales.
* Canada: The Digital Services Tax (DST) is no longer applicable, resulting in a change to developer proceeds.
* Estonia: The Value-Added Tax (VAT) rate has increased from 22% to 24%.
* Romania: Both the standard VAT rate has increased from 19% to 21%, and the reduced VAT rate for news, magazines, books, and audiobooks has risen from 5% to 11%.
* the Philippines: A 12% VAT has been introduced for developers based outside of the philippines.
* Vietnam: Significant changes have been implemented for both organizations and individual developers based outside of Vietnam, including VAT rate increases and the introduction of Personal Income Tax (PIT). Specifically:
* Organizations outside Vietnam will see a VAT rate increase from 5% to 10%.
* individual developers outside vietnam will be subject to a 5% PIT, replacing the previous corporate income tax (CIT). the reduced VAT rate for news, magazines, and books is no longer applicable, with all content now taxed at the standard rate.
* Organizations based in Vietnam will no longer have foreign contractor tax (FCT) remitted by Apple on sales to end customers, but a 5% FCT will be applied to Apple’s commission.
* Individual developers in Vietnam will face a 2% PIT,replacing CIT,alongside a 5% FCT on Apple’s commission.The reduced VAT rate for news, magazines, and books has also been removed.
Apple will update Exhibit B and C of the Paid Applications Agreement to reflect these changes,notably regarding tax collection in the Philippines and Vietnam .
Upcoming Price Updates – Effective September 8th
Begining September 8th, app and in-app purchase pricing will be updated in the Philippines and Vietnam for developers who haven’t designated one of these countries as their base storefront. These updates will account for the newly introduced VAT rates and other tax changes.
Developers who have selected the Philippines or Vietnam as their base storefront will not experience price changes. On other storefronts, prices will be adjusted to maintain consistency with the base price.
It’s significant to note that these price changes will not affect auto-renewable subscriptions, nor will they impact storefronts where developers manually manage their pricing .
Developers can view these upcoming price changes within the Pricing and Availability section of App Store Connect and have the flexibility to adjust prices for their apps, in-app purchases, and subscriptions at any time.
Resources for Developers
Apple provides several resources to help developers manage pricing and understand their proceeds:
* View or edit upcoming price changes
* Edit your app’s base country or region
* Pricing and availability start times by country or region
* Set a price for an In-App Purchase
