Skip to main content

‘Google Tax’ prompts Apple to raise App Store prices

By
Apple will increase prices of applications on its App Store in the country,by upto 33 percent,with the government introducing a 14.5 percent service tax and the falling value of the rupee.
An app costing $0.99 (aboutRs.68)on the App Store in the US will now cost Rs.80 in India as opposed to Rs.60 earlier.The move is part of a global change in prices of apps, an exercise Apple engages in periodically.

Apple communicated the changes in pricing to developers and was reported by digital media outlet Mac Rumors.

The government introduced a service tax of 14 percent and levy of 0.5percent from December1 last year on all services sold digitally.This equalisation levy was introduced as part of a global move by nations to tax digital goods sold from outside a country.It is now popularly known as “GoogleTax”.

“Price tiers on the App Store are set internationally on the basis of several factors, including currency exchange rates,business practices,taxes,and the cost of doing business.These factors vary from region to region and over time,” said an Apple spokes person in response to queries from Business Standard .The increase in prices of its apps comesata time when Apple is looking at a slice of the price-sensitive Indian market,where its global rival Google dominates the smartphone segment. Apple currently controls just three percentoftheIndian smartphonemarket.

Apple is looking to manufacture its iPhones locally in order to save on taxes and bring down the cost of its devices.The company is lookingtopartnerwithFoxconn andWistrontomakedevices inIndiaatproposedfacilities in Bengaluru, Ahmedabad andGurugram.

So far the company’s attempts tosway the Indian government to extend further so psforit to set up manufacturing plants in India has been met with resistance.

Further,Apple also plans to open its own stores in India,for which it has sought a waiver of the 30percent local sourcing norms for single brand retail.The company is looking to reach a wider set of buyers by owning and controlling the buying experience of its devices in India,a tactic that worked for it in China.

The government introduced a service tax of 14% and levy of 0.5% from December 1 last year on all services sold digitally
Business Standard New Delhi,18th January 2017

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Household debt up, but India still lags emerging-market economies: RBI

By
  Although household debt in India is rising, driven by increased borrowing from the financial sector, it remains lower than in other emerging-market economies (EMEs), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its Financial Stability Report. It added that non-housing retail loans, largely taken for consumption, accounted for 55 per cent of total household debt.As of December 2024, India’s household debt-to-gross domestic product ratio stood at 41.9 per cent. “...Non-housing retail loans, which are mostly used for consumption purposes, formed 54.9 per cent of total household debt as of March 2025 and 25.7 per cent of disposable income as of March 2024. Moreover, the share of these loans has been growing consistently over the years, and their growth has outpaced that of both housing loans and agriculture and business loans,” the RBI said in its report.Housing loans, by contrast, made up 29 per cent of household debt, and their growth has remained steady. However, disaggregated data sho...
Post a Comment
Read more

External spillovers likely to hit India's financial system: RBI report

By
  While India’s growth remains insulated from global headwinds mainly due to buoyant domestic demand, the domestic financial system could, however, be impacted by external spillovers, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its half yearly Financial Stability Report published on Monday.Furthermore, the rising global trade disputes and intensifying geopolitical hostilities could negatively impact the domestic growth outlook and reduce the demand for bank credit, which has decelerated sharply. “Moreover, it could also lead to increased risk aversion among investors and further corrections in domestic equity markets, which despite the recent correction, remain at the high end of their historical range,” the report said.It noted that there is some build-up of stress, primarily in financial markets, on account of global spillovers, which is reflected in the marginal rise in the financial system stress indicator, an indicator of the stress level in the financial system, compared to its p...
Post a Comment
Read more

Healthy balance sheets augur well for economy: RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra

By
  Large tariffs by the United States administration and elevated geopolitical risk have increased near-term global financial stability risks, and along with weather events pose downside risks to domestic growth, Reserve Bank of India(RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra said in the foreword to the Financial Stability Report released today.Noting that domestic growth momentum is buoyed by strong domestic drivers, sound macroeconomic fundamentals and prudent policies, Malhotra said: “External spillovers and weather-related events could pose downside risks to growth.”On the other hand, he said the outlook for inflation is benign, and there is greater confidence in the durable alignment of inflation with the Reserve Bank’s target.Commenting that the structural shifts reshaping the global economy are making policy intervention challenging, the Governor emphasised the need for central banks and financial sector regulators to remain vigilant, prudent and agile in safeguarding their economies and...
Post a Comment
Read more