Apple App Store Tax and Price Updates: February 2025 Changes

(Source: Apple)

On 6 February 2025, Apple rolled out substantial tax and pricing revisions throughout its App Store network, impacting creators in various territories.

Prompted by fresh fiscal mandates and exchange rate fluctuations, these alterations seek to synchronise app and in-app purchase (IAP) tariffs with shifting tax landscapes in areas such as Azerbaijan, Peru, Slovakia, Estonia, and Finland.

A distinct tax framework for Japan shall commence on 1 April. Below is an analysis of the revisions and their consequences for creators.

Tax Revisions Spanning Five Territories

VAT Rollouts and Rate Tweaks

• Azerbaijan & Peru: Each nation has enacted an 18% value-added tax (VAT) on digital wares. Apple henceforth gathers and settles these levies for creators.

• Slovakia: The baseline VAT has climbed from 20% to 23%, whereas a lowered 5% tariff pertains to eBooks.

• Estonia: VAT on journalistic outputs and magazines has ascended from 5% to 9%.

• Finland: eBook VAT has risen from 10% to 14%.

These modifications forthwith diminish creator earnings unless tariffs are manually recalibrated. Applications employing automatic tariff harmonisation shall witness alterations in pertinent shopfronts from 24 February, save for self-renewing subscriptions.

Tariff Recalibrations for Azerbaijan & Peru

Harmonisation Protocols and Creator Oversight

• Creators designating Azerbaijan or Peru as their app's reference territory shall preserve extant tariffs. For the remainder, tariffs in these shopfronts shall self-adjust to uphold equivalence with the reference territory's yield.

• Apple's Tariff and Availability panel in App Store Connect presently exhibits impending shifts, empowering creators to supersede mechanised recalibrations.
  
  

Japan Platform Levy Framework (From 1 April)

10% Consumption Levy on Non-Japanese Creators

Pursuant to Japan's novel "Designated Platform Operator" edicts, Apple shall accrue and discharge a 10% Japanese Consumption Tax (JCT) on remunerated apps and IAPs (encompassing virtual commodities such as in-game specie) vended by creators domiciled beyond Japan.

Acquisitions of pre-paid wares (e.g., tokens) prior to 1 April stay unburdened.

Learn More: Japanese App Store Tariff Recalibrations (Dec. 2024)

Consequences for Creators

1. Earnings Recalibrations: Levy escalations in Slovakia, Estonia, and Finland demand tariff audits to safeguard margin integrity.

2. Regulatory Intricacy: Creators ought to oversee reference territory choices and levy duties in zones like Azerbaijan and Peru, wherein Apple now manages levy accrual.

3. Japan's Fresh Onus: Creators extraneous to Japan confront diminished yields unless tariffs are uplifted to counter the 10% JCT.
   
   

ASOWorld First Order Discount

Get 50% off on your first order to start your app growth!

Promote Now Sign up with Google >

Editor's Comments

These revisions highlight the escalating labyrinth of worldwide app revenue generation. Whilst Apple's mechanised levy oversight alleviates regulatory burdens, creators must assiduously refine tariff approaches—particularly in territories prone to fiscal volatility.

Japan's platform levy heralds a wider pattern of administrations homing in on digital bazaars for fiscal gain, a trajectory apt to permeate further realms. It is advisable to scrutinise tariff strata triennially and utilise App Store Connect's metrics to forestall yield attrition.