Apple to raise App Store prices in Barbados, Moldova and Uzbekistan due to tax changes

Posted:
in General Discussion edited April 2020
Apple on Tuesday informed developers that App Store pricing will change in relatively far-flung regions of the world, saying a slight increase in app prices should be expected to account for new value-added tax laws.




Announced in a post to Apple's Developer webpage, updated App Store pricing will roll out in Barbados, Moldova and Uzbekistan.

Set to go into effect over the next few days, the changes impact both one-time app store purchases and in-app subscriptions, though auto-renewable subscriptions remain unscathed. Developer proceeds, which are calculated based on an app's tax-exclusive price, will be adjusted accordingly, Apple says.

An updated list of price tiers shows "tier 1" apps selling for $1.19 in all three regions, while "tier 2" apps are set at $2.49. Developer proceeds on all tiers vary slightly for each App Store.

In addition to consumer-facing price changes, a "low" value-added tax in Malaysia will eat into developers' net proceeds in that region. App buyers in the country, however, will not see a change in App Store pricing.

According to Apple, the Pricing and Availability section of My Apps in App Store Connect will automatically update with new pricing information once the changes goes into effect. The company reminds developers that they can elect to change the price of apps and in-app purchases in App Store Connect. Developers who market apps with subscriptions can also choose to preserve current prices for existing customers.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 12
    sergiozsergioz Posts: 338member
    Well if you find your self living in Moldova the most unhappiest country where no one trust anyone, news like this ain’t nothing but just another day!  
  • Reply 2 of 12
    fred1fred1 Posts: 1,112member
    I've been to Moldova twice and it's a beautiful country with very nice people.  Plus the wines are excellent.  
    I'm sure this is not good news for the people there since the average income is extremely low. 

    What should interest "the rest of us" is the fact that this means that it could happen where we shop too.
  • Reply 3 of 12
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    Seems like common sense. Apple should always adjust prices to accommodate for any external taxes, foreign taxes, VAT, fees and anything else that might be charged by various govts and countries across the globe.

    Let's say that country A has a 30% VAT and a 10% import duty fee on iPhones and country B has a 5% tax only, then the price of an iPhone should be at least 35% higher in country A.
    edited April 2020
  • Reply 4 of 12
    fred1fred1 Posts: 1,112member
    apple ][ said:
    Seems like common sense. Apple should always adjust prices to accommodate for any external taxes, foreign taxes, VAT, fees and anything else that might be charged by various govts and countries across the globe.

    Let's say that country A has a 30% VAT and a 10% import duty fee on iPhones and country B has a 5% tax only, then the price of an iPhone should be at least 35% higher in country A.
    This seems to confuse a lot of people when comparing prices between countries. In Europe, there’s the tax called VAT which can be as much as 24% and is *included in the price*. This makes the price see much higher than in the US where sales tax is much lower and is added to the price at the time of sale.
    jbdragon
  • Reply 5 of 12
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    To be clear these are all taxes that the consumer is responsible for paying, not Apple. The company simply serves as the government's collection agent. Apple is giving individual developers the option of reducing the price of their apps, essentially eating the cost of the VAT taxes (reducing their profit), but Apple themselves won't absorb any of it.

    Mildly surprised that Apple isn't giving developers in the Malaysian store that option, it's going to be mandatory instead. Developers there will have to at least minimally raise their prices to make the same amount of profit. Apple won't be doing so storewide.
    ronn
  • Reply 6 of 12
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    gatorguy said:
    To be clear these are all taxes that the consumer is responsible for paying, not Apple. The company simply serves as the government's collection agent. Apple is giving individual developers the option of reducing the price of their apps, essentially eating the cost of the VAT taxes (reducing their profit), but Apple themselves won't absorb any of it.

    Mildly surprised that Apple isn't giving developers in the Malaysian store that option, it's going to be mandatory instead. Developers there will have to at least minimally raise their prices to make the same amount of profit. Apple won't be doing so storewide.
    Both approaches probably have downsides, but wouldn't preserving the developer margin likely result in unsual pricing, like $1.27 or similar?  I imagine Apple wants to keep its tiers sensible at the $.x9 level, and maybe the Malaysian rises didn't so fit neatly with that?
  • Reply 7 of 12
    Apple isn't raising the price. The VAT is increasing. That's yup to the taxing authorities. It should read, "The price of X is increasing because of an increase in the VAT.
  • Reply 8 of 12
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    Apple isn't raising the price. The VAT is increasing. That's yup to the taxing authorities. It should read, "The price of X is increasing because of an increase in the VAT.
    "Apple to raise App Store prices in Barbados, Moldova and Uzbekistan due to tax changes"

    It basically does?
  • Reply 9 of 12
    jbdragonjbdragon Posts: 2,305member
    fred1 said:
    apple ][ said:
    Seems like common sense. Apple should always adjust prices to accommodate for any external taxes, foreign taxes, VAT, fees and anything else that might be charged by various govts and countries across the globe.

    Let's say that country A has a 30% VAT and a 10% import duty fee on iPhones and country B has a 5% tax only, then the price of an iPhone should be at least 35% higher in country A.
    This seems to confuse a lot of people when comparing prices between countries. In Europe, there’s the tax called VAT which can be as much as 24% and is *included in the price*. This makes the price see much higher than in the US where sales tax is much lower and is added to the price at the time of sale.
    I don't get the whole VAT thing. VALUE ADDED TAX? Where is the Value since it's a TAX? Do people really fall for this? Then you have the people going, oh those evil company's don't pay enough taxes, and the politician goes, Ummm, More money the government can steal FROM THE SUCKERS, Oh I mean People, all under the pretense of making those corporations pay. Corporations don't pay taxes. Wlel they do, but really they don't. They just raise the prices and it's YOU who are paying for the taxes in the cost of higher product costs. So it's really a run around way in taxing the people and the people being HAPPY about you doing it. SUCKERS!!!!

    VAT goes UP, Apple is not going to pay more, YOU the people will in the form of higher prices. Doesn't matter if it's hardware or software. I always just find this funny. Ya, go get them EVIL Oil company's or that EVIL Apple, and you know who what, fine, Now you GAS is more expensive. YOU are the one paying those extra costs, not them. All you did was make things more expensive for yourself and grow government.

    The corrupt politician stays in power for a lifetime.
  • Reply 10 of 12
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    jbdragon said:
    fred1 said:
    apple ][ said:
    Seems like common sense. Apple should always adjust prices to accommodate for any external taxes, foreign taxes, VAT, fees and anything else that might be charged by various govts and countries across the globe.

    Let's say that country A has a 30% VAT and a 10% import duty fee on iPhones and country B has a 5% tax only, then the price of an iPhone should be at least 35% higher in country A.
    This seems to confuse a lot of people when comparing prices between countries. In Europe, there’s the tax called VAT which can be as much as 24% and is *included in the price*. This makes the price see much higher than in the US where sales tax is much lower and is added to the price at the time of sale.
    I don't get the whole VAT thing. VALUE ADDED TAX? Where is the Value since it's a TAX?
    The tax applies to the value added. Like how income tax is tax on income. "Where is the Income since it's a TAX?" would be a pretty dumb thing to say
  • Reply 11 of 12
    Absorb Tax inflation yourself, Apple. Your greed is getting sickening. Apple greys spend millions circumnavigating "far-flung" tax regulations. So if the rise in cost is so small, suck it up yourselves.

    Passing control over to Cook was the second biggest mistake in Steve Jobs' life. Post mortem, Apple transformed from an imaginative and somewhat innovational company to a hovel from which all the talent fled with obscene severance packages. (Jobs' first big mistake was thinking that gargantuan yacht he had built for his monocratic alter-ego would float.)

    Apple Support staff are in need of support themselves...
    and as for Apple Genius' store techs, they make PCWorld and BestBuy customer service staff look like the real genius' of the retail tech world.
  • Reply 12 of 12
    gatorguy said:
    To be clear these are all taxes that the consumer is responsible for paying, not Apple. The company simply serves as the government's collection agent. Apple is giving individual developers the option of reducing the price of their apps, essentially eating the cost of the VAT taxes (reducing their profit), but Apple themselves won't absorb any of it.

    Mildly surprised that Apple isn't giving developers in the Malaysian store that option, it's going to be mandatory instead. Developers there will have to at least minimally raise their prices to make the same amount of profit. Apple won't be doing so storewide.
    ...taxes that the consumer is responsible for paying... Whereas Apple shirks its responsibility to pay tax it is responsible for paying. Creative accounting is a less egalitarian application of communism masked as capitalism.
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