UK closes tax loophole on digital downloads, Google Play prices likely to increase

New rules see standard VAT of 20% to be paid from January 1 2015

Buried within the recent Budget, it seems that UK Chancellor, George Osborne, has announced that digital content downloads will pay tax based on the country they are sold in. In other words all content from Google Play, Amazon, iTunes and so on, will be subject to the standard UK rate of VAT at 20%.

That's a pretty substantial increase on the rate of tax paid when the content is sold through other European countries, such as Luxembourg, and could bring an end to the 99p song download and raise the price of books, apps and games. The rules are set to come into effect on January 1 2015. For the Government it means more revenues, for the rest of us it just means that something else we love will cost more money.

Source: The Guardian

Richard Devine