"Steam to implement 12% VAT in PH starting June."
(media.scored.co)
Comments (10)
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Cause the govt asked for it
They tend to leave that off when they dislike the company implementing it because of government actions or to cover for the government.
Noticed the same kind of headlines from UK media when Apple pulled some services from the UK than give their government a backdoor into their systems.
Source - https://archive.is/xwvLo
Key reseller prices won't change.
Europoor here. VAT is a way to tax imports without explicitly imposing tarrifs. It’s a necessary evil for non-competitive economies. Prepare for the rate to increase in the future. On the bright side, it means you are gradually becoming a consumer economy instead of simply slaving away for richer countries.
Does that mean using a VPN will make games cheaper?
Not sure that's worth the risk. Here in Europe you have to enter a billing address for tax purposes. You might get away with using a VPN or a fake address but the question is for how long and what Steam would do if they catch on. You have to use your real data with your payment processor who might hand it to Steam.
If you want to use a VPN to get better prices you'd probably be better off buying Steam keys from another store. Just make sure they aren't region-locked.
Doesn't Mullvad let you anonymously pay with cash?
makes sense.
i suppose you could enter the lowest taxed EU country on the basis of free movement of business and people.
Prices displayed and paid on Steam are set AFTER tax, so the only thing it does is Valve and the game dev/publisher getting a bigger chunk. You pay the same whether you're in Hungary(27%) or Luxembourg(17%)
Switzerland (8.1%)(Swizterland is not in the EU technically). It might help if you switch to a country that doesn't use the EUR and Steam supports that currency, but publishers don't really bother setting lower prices because the free movement actively prevents regional lockouts.yes and no. They may take your account for doing so if they find anything sus. You can switch regions to SEA and the games will be in their local currency and cheaper but when you check out, it also says these games are explicitly only to be played in that region