Last night, the Apple company sent an email to developers from all over the world, informing them that starting from January 1, the prices for the applications sold in the App Stores in the European Union will be changed. Specifically, the company Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), will apply VAT for sales depending on each country separately and not collectively, as is happening now, so that in some countries prices will increase, and in others they will decrease, all depending on the value of VAT.
Until January 1, 2015, the Apple company applied a VAT of 15% for applications sold through App Store, this being the amount of the tax applied by the government of Luxembourg, where Apple's European subsidiary has its residence, through which App Store payments are processed. From January 1, a VAT of 24% will be applied for Romania, in accordance with our legislation, so the prices of the applications will increase by 9% for the purchases made by us.
On January 1, 2015, value-added tax (VAT) rates for apps will change for all territories in the European Union. VAT will be based on the customer's country of residence instead of being the same across all EU territories.
Note that prices for apps on the App Store include VAT, while the developer's proceeds are calculated after VAT is deducted.
Learn more about updated VAT rates for apps on the App Store.
If you have any questions about this change, contact us.
Regards,
The App Store team
Apple makes the applications in the App Store more expensive
Moreover, the Apple company will also modify the calculation formula for developers' payments through the App Store, so that VAT will be deducted from the price paid by the user, and Apple's commission of 30% will be deducted from the remaining amount, the final amount being transferred to the developers who will also have to pay local tax. In practice, in Romania a developer will receive only 46% of the price of the application sold through the App Store, so we can expect Romanians to be discouraged from developing applications.
At the same time, we can expect many other companies to apply a similar measure, considering that until now Apple has paid developers 70% of the selling price of an application, but now Europeans will receive, at best, 65% of the amount. To be honest, I expect this change to have a huge impact on the App Store and the way developers think about their applications, and in the end everyone will lose.
| Country | VAT Rates |
|---|---|
| Austria | 20% |
| Belgium | 21% |
| Bulgaria | 20% |
| Croatia | 25% |
| Cyprus | 19% |
| Czech Republic | 21% |
| Denmark | 25% |
| Estonia | 20% |
| Finland | 24% |
| France | 20% |
| Germany | 19% |
| Greece | 23% |
| Hungary | 27% |
| Iceland | 24% |
| ireland | 23% |
| Italy | 22% |
| latvia | 21% |
| lithuania | 21% |
| Luxembourg | 17% |
| Malta | 18% |
| Netherlands | 21% |
| poland | 23% |
| Portugal | 23% |
| Romania | 24% |
| Slovakia | 20% |
| Slovenia | 22% |
| Spain | 21% |
| Sweden | 25% |
| UK | 20% |
