App Store tax and prices are changing in Germany, Cameroon, and more

App Store on iPad
App Store on iPad (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

  • Apple has warned developers that some prices and tax levels are changing in a number of countries.

Apple today warned developers that local taxes are changing in multiple countries including Cameroon, Germany, and more. As a result, some App Store prices are changing while others aren't – resulting in a loss of income for developers who have apps available in those countries.

According to Apple's developer note, four countries will see changes soon.

When taxes or foreign exchange rates change, we sometimes need to update prices on the App Store in certain regions and/or adjust your proceeds. In the next few days, your proceeds will be adjusted in the following regions and will be calculated based on the tax-exclusive price.Cameroon: New value-added tax of 19.25%Zimbabwe: New value-added tax of 14.5%Prices of apps and in-app purchases (excluding auto-renewable subscriptions) on the App Store will increase in these regions.Germany: Value-added tax rate reversion to 19% after temporary decrease to 16%. Prices on the App Store will not change.Republic of Korea: Prices of alternative tiers for apps and in-app purchases (excluding auto-renewable subscriptions) will be adjusted to allow for additional locally relevant pricing conventions.

The changes will come into force over the next few days, although Apple isn't saying exactly when they will kick in.

Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.