SA digital tax to hit online gamers in the pocket

Grievous said:
Yes, I believe its taxed, but it goes to the US, in the case of steam. What I believe will happen here is that Valve will have to register for tax, they will remove American tax for items being purchased from south africa, and add VAT.
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I really hope it works this way because if not then were getting bent over by force and they will say just deal with it and the thing is will valve comply or will they just do what other countries do and pull out of SA and tell us due to government policies we are not allowed to make purchases through them.

WWE for one and Eastbay are some of those companies because of some stupid tax and import laws that they want the companies to pay to SA
 
AlienTaker said:
I really hope it works this way because if not then were getting bent over by force and they will say just deal with it and the thing is will valve comply or will they just do what other countries do and pull out of SA and tell us due to government policies we are not allowed to make purchases through them.
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Exactly what I'm worried about, we will have to wait and see, its a bit early to tell. As far as I know we have a really shit law that the CEO or someone high up has to register.... in person.
 
I'm actually kind of glad in a way that this is happening. My only options thus far have been to buy overpriced Steam wallet vouchers locally or buy from local online stores (BT Games, meh), because then at least you pay VAT. I don't want to go through the process of submitting forms to SARS myself and pay VAT, and the idea of being prosecuted for tax evasion by not doing so doesn't really appeal to me either. So now I'll hopefully be able to buy directly from Steam and not pay the ridiculous prices they have locally.

even if the 14% SA VAT is passed on to consumers, digital goods are still likely to be more affordable than the physical equivalent purchased in brick and mortar shops.
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Then again we'll just have to see how it works out. This might be good provided the international distributors go along with it. If they don't register as VAT vendors and pull out of the SA market entirely, then that won't be good at all.
 
I dont get how this is going to be implemented, since most digital content comes from other countries how are they going to do this ? Is this not more a import tax than vat then, I mean are they going to contact steam and have them jack up all their prices then ask steam for vat payments every month or is this aimed at local digital content providers like muisca etc...
 
B1nary said:
I dont get how this is going to be implemented, since most digital content comes from other countries how are they going to do this ? Is this not more a import tax than vat then, I mean are they going to contact steam and have them jack up all their prices then ask steam for vat payments every month or is this aimed at local digital content providers like muisca etc...
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I think this is for steam, I would think Musica is already paying VAT. I suspect the implementation is going to be a stuff up.
 
Lets all hope it's completely disorganized and fails and falls flat on it's creators face and life goes on all peaches and cream
 
B1nary said:
I dont get how this is going to be implemented, since most digital content comes from other countries how are they going to do this ? Is this not more a import tax than vat then, I mean are they going to contact steam and have them jack up all their prices then ask steam for vat payments every month or is this aimed at local digital content providers like muisca etc...
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It is VAT. What they are requiring is that any company supplying 'electronic services' to someone resident in South Africa or where payment is made from a SA bank account/credit card for these services the company must be registered for VAT.

As you say, the practical application is going to be difficult. I wonder if they will be using Banks to monitor where payments are made to?
 
Fivel said:
As you say, the practical application is going to be difficult. I wonder if they will be using Banks to monitor where payments are made to?
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Its very easy to tell where the card is coming from using the card number. Valve for example would be able to tell its from South Africa just from the card number.
 
Eugene said:
I'm pretty sure they've had to register for some other countries, this wouldn't be their first time.
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I guess the point I'm making is that we don't exactly contribute massively to their bottom line so why go through all the trouble?
 
Fivel said:
I guess the point I'm making is that we don't exactly contribute massively to their bottom line so why go through all the trouble?
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Just came across this, might be relevant:

Are taxes collected for Steam purchases?

If you made an online order for a Valve product and you are an international customer there may be taxes or VAT charges included in your purchase.

To the extent VAT applies to a transaction, Valve absorbs that cost and pays VAT itself.
Valve Corporation reports VAT declarations on a quarterly basis to HM Revenue & Customs in the UK, who then distributes to the various EU member countries.

Valve Corporation's eleven character "Special Scheme" identification number is:
EU 826 000 671

HM Revenue & Customs can be contacted by telephone in the UK at 0845 010 9000 (+44 208 929 0152 for international callers), or via their website at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/
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Source:
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=8360-WEJC-2625#taxes
 
When they say "absorb", I wonder if what they actually mean is we add it to the price without saying and then pay it over
 
Applause said:
would purchasing from steam and other online stores that are not local be effected?
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Yes. That's kind of the point of the whole thread and the article that inspired it...

The regulations have been published by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan for comment, and follow the proposals he made in his 2013 budget speech to impose VAT on foreign businesses who “sell e-books, music and other digital goods and services”.
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In terms of the regulations, the VAT will apply to any supplier of electronic services from an “export country” to any resident in South Africa, or where payment is made from a local bank.
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