Late Tuesday evening, Apple announced a new App Store Connect feature that allows developers to assign tax categories to apps and in-app purchases.
In a new post on Apple’s developer website, the new feature announced, which simplifies the process of collecting taxes for app publishers. Depending on local laws, content creators, distributors, and retailers must pay different rates of tax on digital goods and services sold. Apple manages taxes on behalf of developers in 64 of the 175 countries where the App Store is available, although the company requires additional information to calculate fees correctly. Tax categories in App Store Connect allow developers to assign apps to categories such as videos, books, news publications, and more, making it easier for Apple to determine what tax rules apply in each territory.
App Store Connect: Specifying a category is not mandatory
Developers can access the new feature in the Pricing and Availability section of App Store Connect, which displays a list of categories that might apply to a specific app or in-app purchase. Apple notes that in-app purchases can be managed separately. Once saved, the category selection will be applied to future transactions. A summary of taxes collected will be provided in a developer's Transaction Tax Report one full month after the settings are configured. Apps that are not assigned to one of the tax categories will be subject to the same tax rate as the current App Store software category. (Photo by Postmodern Studio / Bigstockphoto)