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A new law proposed by the Australian government could make digital online services a lot more expensive for its citizens. The government is considering applying 10% tax to “intangible goods” like web service subscriptions, online music, movie downloads, TV shows (including streaming services such as Netflix) , e-books, digital game downloads like Steam and etc.
This tax would also affect video streaming service Netflix which has just arrived in Australia, making the service 10% more expensive. So-called, "Netflix tax" would increase the price of Netflix from $8.99 a month to $9.89 for the basic package.
As a result, the price of most Steam games could effectively increase 10 percent for Australian gamers. Many gamers criticize the difference in price between games in Australia and the US because the goods are digital, and are therefore not affected by the costs involved with shipping physical products. One reason given for the proposed so-called “Netflix” tax is to protect native Australian businesses from foreign competitors, but there is no service comparable to Steam in the country.
Some more tech savvy gamers use VPN (Virtual Private Network) services to mask their origin so they can purchase games at lower foreign prices, but many others simply forgo buying the games entirely and choose to pirate them instead.
This tax would also affect video streaming service Netflix which has just arrived in Australia, making the service 10% more expensive. So-called, "Netflix tax" would increase the price of Netflix from $8.99 a month to $9.89 for the basic package.
As a result, the price of most Steam games could effectively increase 10 percent for Australian gamers. Many gamers criticize the difference in price between games in Australia and the US because the goods are digital, and are therefore not affected by the costs involved with shipping physical products. One reason given for the proposed so-called “Netflix” tax is to protect native Australian businesses from foreign competitors, but there is no service comparable to Steam in the country.
Some more tech savvy gamers use VPN (Virtual Private Network) services to mask their origin so they can purchase games at lower foreign prices, but many others simply forgo buying the games entirely and choose to pirate them instead.