30% App Store Tax

Extracted Attributes

• Small Business Rate

  15% for developers earning $1 million or less in annual net proceeds

• Legal Status (Google)

  Ruled an illegal monopoly and antitrust violator in Epic vs. Google

• Standard Commission Rate

  30% of app sales and in-app purchases

• External Payment Link Fee

  Varies; Apple is barred from restricting external links but may still collect commissions

• Subscription Renewal Rate

  15% after a subscriber completes one year of paid service

Timeline

• Google Play is launched, consolidating Android Market, Google Music, and Google Books. (Source: wikipedia)

  2012-03-06

• Google Play Store records over 82 billion app downloads for the calendar year. (Source: wikipedia)

  2016-12-31

• Google Play Music is discontinued and replaced by YouTube Music. (Source: wikipedia)

  2020-12-03

• Play Movies & TV is rebranded as Google TV. (Source: wikipedia)

  2021-11-11

• A jury finds Google Play Store on Android constitutes an App Store Monopoly in the Epic vs. Google lawsuit. (Source: eb4480db-8906-408f-b8da-c7f2622c98ce)

  2023-12-11

Google Play

Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store or Play Store, and formerly known as the Android Market, is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certified devices running on the Android operating system and its derivatives, as well as ChromeOS, allowing users to browse and download applications developed with the Android software development kit and published through Google. Google Play has also served as a digital media store, with it offering various media for purchase (as well as certain things available free) such as books, movies, musical singles, television programs, and video games. Content that has been purchased on Google TV and Google Play Books can be accessed on a web browser (such as, for example, Google Chrome) and through certain Android and iOS apps. An individual's Google Account can feature a diverse collection of materials to be heard, read, watched, or otherwise interacted with. The nature of the various things offered through Google Play's services have changed over time given the particular history of the Android operating system. Applications are available through Google Play either for free or at a cost. They can be downloaded directly on an Android device through the proprietary Google Play Store mobile app or by deploying the application to a device from the Google Play website. Applications utilizing the hardware capabilities of a device can be targeted at users of devices with specific hardware components, such as a motion sensor (for motion-dependent games) or a front-facing camera (for online video calling). The Google Play Store had over 82 billion app downloads in 2016 and over 3.5 million apps published in 2017, while after a purge of apps, it is back to over 3 million. It has been the subject of multiple issues concerning security, in which malicious software has been approved and uploaded to the store and downloaded by users, with varying degrees of severity. Google Play was launched on March 6, 2012, bringing together Android Market, Google Music, Google Movies, and Google Books under one brand, marking a shift in Google's digital distribution strategy. Following their rebranding, Google has expanded the geographical support for each of the services. Since 2021, Google has gradually sunsetted the Play brand: Google Play Newsstand was discontinued and replaced by Google News, Google Play Music was discontinued and replaced by YouTube Music on December 3, 2020, and Play Movies & TV was rebranded as Google TV on November 11, 2021.

Web Search Results

• Apple study finds developers don't pass on savings - Telecoms

  More cynical readers may be toying with the thought that Apple is not an entirely disinterested party in this matter, since it is the sole recipient of those commission fees when an app is sold through its app store. In fact, Apple has historically claimed 30% of subsequent transactions undertaken through that app, even after it has typically also imposed a 30% tax on the initial app purchase. Unencumbered by such cynicism, we reproduce the key takeaways from the study below. [...] Related:Orange Money and Visa look to expand online payments So, a company that monopolises the iOS ecosystem, and is part of a mobile app store duopoly, is effectively saying that, since the market has been trained to tolerate a 30% price premium, it should be allowed to monopolise that premium too. For the sake of balance, we leave you with a tweet from Apple’s chief antagonist regarding its commission structure, CEO of game developer Epic, Tim Sweeney. View post on X ## About the Author [...] With no agenda whatsoever, driven by nothing more than casual curiosity, Apple decided to ‘support’ a study into ‘what happens to app prices when developers pay lower commission fees.’ Imagine Apple’s surprise when the report concluded those lower commission fees are not passed on to app customers and are instead trousered by the developers, the inference being that there is no public benefit from making Apple collect a bit less ‘tax’ from them.

• Avoid Apple's 30% App Store Cut: A Creator's Guide - Passion.io

  Subscription renewal after one year: For auto-renewable subscriptions, Apple's commission drops from 30% to 15% after a subscriber completes one year of paid service. Free trials don't count toward this threshold. [...] App Store Small Business Program: Developers earning $1 million or less in annual net proceeds qualify for a 15% commission rate on all sales and in-app purchases from day one. If your proceeds exceed $1 million in a calendar year, the standard 30% rate applies for the remainder of that year. [...] Can I avoid Apple's 30% fee entirely? In the US, you can now include external payment links without Apple's commission, routing users to your website for PassionPayments web checkout (3.9% + Stripe) or external platforms (0% platform fee from us). Most apps must still offer IAP as an option for in-app convenience.

• Apple's 30% fee gone, but what's next? | Ben Hillman posted on the ...

  Apples 30% App Store Commission is gone, but that doesn't mean free proper for you. Here's why. A judge ordered that Apple is barred from imposing any Commission or restrictions on external purchase links originating from apps. Our pals at Revenue Cap put it plainly. You keep more of your earnings, place payment links freely inside your app, and get full creative control over how payment options are presented. But Apple hasn't been collecting a 30% fee just to be mean they handle payments, [...] Apple’s 30% app store fee is gone, but that doesn’t mean free profit. Here’s why: A judge ordered that Apple is barred from imposing any commission or restrictions on external purchase links originating from apps. Our pals at RevenueCat put it plainly: - You keep more of your earnings - Place payment links freely inside apps - Get full creative control over how payment options are presented. But Apple hasn’t been collecting a 30% fee just because, they handle payments, taxes, refunds, fraud [...] taxes, refunds, fraud protection and more So. That 30% fee doesn't just disappear. Now you've got to cover those crucial functions. So here's the real choice. Do you want to manage all of that yourself and pay for it all a cart? Or do you want to partner with the merchant of record like paddle that can handle it for you at a fraction of the cost? Let us hear it in the comments.

• App Store Small Business Program - Apple Developer

  Your eligibility is based on your total App Store proceeds converted into United States dollars (USD) in the prior calendar year. Proceeds are your sales net of Apple’s commission and certain taxes and adjustments. To estimate your proceeds, use the payments deposited into your bank account and your tax and adjustment details in App Store Connect. [...] If your bank account currency is in USD. Add the total App Store payments deposited into your bank account in the prior calendar year. Then modify that amount with any taxes and adjustments from the Payments and Financial Reports section of App Store Connect. For taxes and adjustments in other currencies, use the USD exchange rate shown in App Store Connect for each month. [...] If your bank account currency is not in USD. You’ll need to convert your App Store payments deposited into your bank account in the prior calendar year into USD. Use a publicly available exchange rate that corresponds with the end of each fiscal month in Apple’s fiscal calendar to calculate your total USD proceeds. Then modify the total USD amount with any taxes and adjustments from the Payments and Financial Reports section of App Store Connect.

• Commissions, fees, and taxes - App Store Connect - Apple Developer

  As is standard for business transactions, commissions and fees don’t include taxes. There may be applicable taxes, as required by tax law, added as new lines on your invoice. Taxes may apply in certain countries and/or regions, including but not limited to, value-added tax (VAT), sales and use tax, sales and service tax (SST), goods and services tax (GST), consumption tax, etc. Generally, the applicability of tax depends on a combination of factors: [...] In the event that any amount payable by you to Apple for commissions and fees is subject to any applicable withholding tax, and that you’re required to collect and remit such tax, you shall gross up the relevant payment to Apple, so that after you deduct and remit the applicable withholding tax to tax authority, Apple shall receive the same amount as originally invoiced. You shall bear full responsibility for such compliance obligations. If you apply any applicable withholding tax, please [...] properly indicate on any withholding tax documentation the correct Apple legal entity issuing the specific invoice and provide Apple with tax remittance documentation.