Pricing change for Europe

[Scumble373]

Hey everyone,

I was recently informed that there has been a change with VAT transactions in the European Union. The PSA states: "The change effectively automatically offloads the VAT (or “value-added tax,” the standard tax system for members of the European Union) onto the listed price of the app, so instead of it being tacked onto the end of a transaction that the user pays for, it’s being taken from the app’s base price."

Unfortunately, this began a lengthy process of going through each one of our in app purchases in google play and amazon and adding the new tax percentage on top. I have just finished modifying all of the prices, so if you see a slight increase, this is why. Here is the article if you'd like to know more:

http://phandroid.com/2015/01/02/google-play-eu-vat-change-psa/

Anyone not in Europe, this will not affect you.

Thank you for your understanding.

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

This change (mainly the VAT reporting requirements of the law) is a pain in the butt for a lot of small businesses who generate a lot of commerce on the net. Of the people in my FB friends list, there is one who is an independent, singer/songwriter who sells her music pretty much exclusively online; she's had a lot of worries about how this is going to affect her. Some of the sites she sells songs on have been helpful and are absorbing some of the costs, others, she's on her own.

FWIW in most EU countries, VAT is always included in the advertised price of a product, unlike in the US where the price on the shelf doesn't include any sales tax.

 

[Day]

sorry for being a bit slow here .... consumers in europe have previously always paid sales tax/VAT (?)

so... please translate this for me

The change effectively automatically offloads the VAT (or “value-added tax,” the standard tax system for members of the European Union) onto the listed price of the app, so instead of it being tacked onto the end of a transaction that the user pays for, it’s being taken from the app’s base price.

if you see a slight increase, this is why

i don't understand why there should be an increase in the price.

it's not the actual price increase, should there be one, that concerns me, more the principle.

Sorry if i'm being somewhat thick.... it's late and i'm very very jet-lagged so a monosyllabic laymans explanation would be greatly appreciated.

thanks in advance
day

 

[RSchwantner]

sorry for being a bit slow here .... consumers in europe have previously always paid sales tax/VAT (?)

so... please translate this for me






i don't understand why there should be an increase in the price.

it's not the actual price increase, should there be one, that concerns me, more the principle.

Sorry if i'm being somewhat thick.... it's late and i'm very very jet-lagged so a monosyllabic laymans explanation would be greatly appreciated.

thanks in advance
day

Basically, before, we had our game price and when you went to checkout it added tax.
Now, our game price is original price plus tax and there is no added charge in checkout.

 

[DopedToInfinity]

Basically, before, we had our game price and when you went to checkout it added tax.
Now, our game price is original price plus tax and there is no added charge in checkout.

I'm In the uk, and the tables were always £2.99 with no extra added on after checkout. On the app store, psn, or xbox live we never paid extra at checkout. Vat has always been included in the price, weather digital or a physical product.

 

[Heretic]

what doped said

but it seems every new and or updated app in the uk is 99p or 79p on the pound for example some 1.99 games are now 2.19 so there are pirce increases so im assuming tpa will be the same?

tabkes have when up from 3 to four pounds...alittle xtreme no?

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

Just to be very clear - FarSight has nothing to do with implementing these changes (they're not bound by EU regulations after all). Everything is being done by iTunes, the Play Store, PSN, XBL etc. They're the retailer so they are the ones responsible for reporting VAT on purchases. Previously they would collect VAT in the country they're based in, which obviously could lead to some loopholes and blatant tax avoidance. That has all changed.

This has affected all software downloads. It's probably affected Steam in Europe as well, and Origin, and GOG.

 

[Heretic]

that doesnt really explain the differences in price settings between devs

 

[Day]

OK, so now the price advertised will be the price you pay. so far so good, only that I had thought VAT wasn't harmonised across Europe? isn't the UK at 17.5% here in Germany it's 19%. (apologies, I'm too
lazy right now to fire up Google and check on the inter webs, where vat is set for the various EU member states)

actually, y'know what, the price increase on most sales is most
likely is going to be really minimal, and Google being "not evil" is not going to screw us in the same manner that retailers did with the changeover from DMs to eurojetons. when that occurred, a lot of vendors simply swapped the currency indicator whilst leaving the numeric value unchanged = a signifcant hike in price.

thanks all for the clarifications, I conclude the minimal price increases are not really worth any further consideration....

 

[wolfson]

hello so us in AUSTRALIA are being charged vat tax as well because we are thrown in with EUROPE.why the hell are we in with EUROPE we`re on the other side of the world.our equivalent of the vat tax is gst which is 10% not EUROPES 20 SOMETHING %.THIS iIS ONLY FOR SONY.I HAVE NO PROBLEM IN PRICING FROM STEAM OR MICROSOFT .

 

[Heretic]

hello so us in AUSTRALIA are being charged vat tax as well because we are thrown in with EUROPE.why the hell are we in with EUROPE we`re on the other side of the world.our equivalent of the vat tax is gst which is 10% not EUROPES 20 SOMETHING %.THIS iIS ONLY FOR SONY.I HAVE NO PROBLEM IN PRICING FROM STEAM OR MICROSOFT .

its cuz yer all comvicts mate

legacy charges

 

[wolfson]

AHA !!! SORRY MATE ,most of us are migrants or children of migrants like myself. I`d rather be put in with the USA ,THANKS.

 

[Heretic]

thats what they say 945601

 

[Mad07]

Only for example:
Zen does not increase the price. The only difference is, that the tax is now visible. Pls have a look:

 

[Mad07]

its cuz yer all comvicts mate

legacy charges

the history is over run you (or better our members from Australia) : if I remember right, the cars are driving on the left side like in GB; your rules are base on the old rules from Great Britan . It will be interested, what happen in HK, if the must pay Tax too or not, because they were till 1997 under British control.

 

[Zorgwon]

I never had any tax added so far but the prices indicated in the game were in US$ and it was always a bit surprising what i finally had to pay. The weak EURO made prices constantly higher. Apple also informed me about the taxes but beyond that nothing changed.
EDIT: Apple has increased prices by 10% for Germany. Farsight about 20%.

 

[Scumble373]

Hey everyone,

Quick update, the prices as of now will not remain this way forever. Apparently, Google Play has a bug right now where the tax isn't being applied to some dev's console. When they fix the issue, I should be able to go through and auto-convert them so they match other google play devs (like the photo above)

Sorry for the inconvenience!

 

[pyroxian]

Yeah, it's a pain - we're having to go through all our apps and change our prices back to the pre-VAT hike price (which is fun for the app with 400+ IAPs...)

Basically - Google used to include VAT in the price, now they're adding it on top of the existing prices, so all IAPs in the UK suddenly jumped in price by 20%...

 

[Mad07]

Maybe I must try, that I can logon in Google-Play Russia

 

[Byte]

FWIW in most EU countries, VAT is always included in the advertised price of a product, unlike in the US where the price on the shelf doesn't include any sales tax.

/OFFTOPIC:

This is why they get away with around 20 cents on the dollar sales taxes (e.g. 21% in Holland which isn't a third world country). Consumers think a product "costs" what it says on the shelf. When you ask, they will tell you they are aware it contains the tax and what percentage. Ask what the tax is in Euros and they will generally try to figure it out using mental math but failing miserably. The end result of it is that the tax is not paid consciously. That is why often advertised prices for gasoline, tobacco products, ones that are subject to additional fees/levies are the exception in North America and DO include all taxes/fees.

The reason for this rant: if you are still lucky enough to have shelf prices that are just product cost (i.e. excluding taxes) make sure it stays that way, or 10 years from now you'll also be paying around 20% sales tax. Easy "general revenue" for the government, very little complaints.