As early as October 5, 2022, prices of Apple’s apps and in-app purchases (excluding auto-renewable subscriptions) on the App Store will increase in several countries will take effect. This comes at a time when the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) is working closely with American tech-multinational companies like Google, Netflix, Microsoft, Apple, and Spotify, to impose new digital taxes.
ALSO READ: Understanding the upcoming digital tax on online services
Countries affected by Apple’s price hike include; Chile, Egypt, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Poland, South Korea, Sweden, Vietnam, and all territories that use the euro currency. All Euro markets, except Montenegro, will see the base €0.99 app pricing move to €1.19 next month, a 20 percent jump. In Japan, the hikes are more than 30 percent, amid the yen dropping to a new 24-year low against the US dollar. View the updated price tier charts.
Apple hasn’t been clear on exactly why prices are going up for apps and in-app purchases, but with the euro and yen struggling against a strong dollar, it’s clear this is driven by currency fluctuations that have been influenced by inflation and rising energy costs. Reuters reports that Apple periodically adjusts its App Store pricing for currency fluctuations, and actually reduced the base €1.09 app price to €0.99 last year.
This comes at a time when the Ugandan government is set to start taxing Facebook Ads a service that is currently banned in the country. With effect from October 2022, Facebook ads in Uganda are subject to a value-added tax (VAT) at the applicable local tax rate. This applies to advertisers who have registered on Facebook Ads as a business with a personal address set to Uganda and who haven’t added their Tax Identification Number (TIN) to their
Facebook ad management accounts.
In accordance with the Uganda Tax Procedures Code Act, Meta is required to share your information with the Uganda Revenue Authority. VAT is included in each ad revenue and this is irrespective of whether you’re purchasing Facebook ads for business or personal purposes.