All those iOS users who have been purchasing the apps and services through Apple App Store would need to pay a lot more in the future. Apple has announced the price of in-app purchases and apps on the App Store are about an increase in India and five other countries including Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Russia, and South Africa. The increase in the rates will reflect the new equalization levy of two percent in addition to the existing 18 percent goods and services tax.
An equalization levy is a form of direct tax that the government introduced in 2016 with the intention of taxing the foreign tech companies on revenue accrued via digital transactions. While it was implemented in April 2020, the government had levied a 2 percent equalization levy on e-commerce operators under section 165A. Once the changes are being implemented, they will be visible in the Apple Developer portal in the Pricing and Availability section of My Apps.
It is unclear if the same changes will be made to the other services from Apple in India, like Apple Music, Apple TV+ and iCloud, and their subscription rate. For now, it is expected that the changes will only be there for App store purchases. Apple will be informing their customer when the policy change is implemented and prices are updated. Apple has also provided the developers with new price tiers so that they can have an idea about what the pricing will be for the new apps. The last update to App Store price has been in 2017.