BIZ BUZZ: PH gamers brace for new digital tax
Filipino gamers will soon feel a painful pinch as popular video game platform Steam will begin collecting a new 12-percent sales tax this June.
This move, part of the government’s push to tax digital services, is expected to drive up the cost of purchasable and downloadable games from Steam, making gaming a pricier hobby for many.
In its taxes FAQ section, Steam lists the Philippines as a country where taxes will be collected soon, specifying June as the implementation timeline.
But in October last year, the local distributor of Nintendo video games told Biz Buzz that the government’s move to impose a 12-percent value-added tax (VAT) on digital services and products offered by foreign firms should not apply to games sold through their online electronic shop.
Victoria Palomar, digital marketing executive at VST ECS Phils., Inc., said that the structure of the Nintendo eShop, where Nintendo Switch and Android games are sold, could exempt them from the new tax.
Currently, the Nintendo eShop does not list the Philippines as an option when creating an account—an essential step for purchasing games.
The same setup applies to Sony’s PlayStation Store, forcing Filipino gamers to register under other countries.
This raises questions on how the government plans to enforce digital taxation on platforms that technically don’t recognize the Philippine market in their system.
