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

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.

12 Comments

sergioz 338 comments · 12 Years

About 4 years ago

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!

fred1 1131 comments · 11 Years

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.

apple ][ 9225 comments · 13 Years

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.

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.

gatorguy 24603 comments · 13 Years

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.