As previously reported, among the changes that we’re currently experiencing in 2020 is the tax implementation on digital services such as Google, Steam, and PlayStation Network in Malaysia. For this report, we’ve dug around in Google Play Store to see if there are any major changes in the various products offered on the platform, especially in terms of pricing.
To our surprise, the prices for movies, games, books and other products have not changed even after the implementation of the digital tax on 1 January 2020. Save for one minor exception; despite all products being priced the same as before, it now includes tax in their pricing. Meaning to say that the 6% digital tax is already inclusive and is not charged as an addition when you checkout your purchases.
This is noticeable when you’re in the checkout screen, where it now displays the respective tax in a product’s total price. For your reference, we’ve included several different examples in this article that features product before and after its implementation, and the tax calculations for different products of varying prices in Play Store.
Other than product prices, the same can be said for in-app purchases for games. Upon checking the in-game store for Minecraft Earth, we can confirm that price to purchase its in-game currency is the same as before, albeit that they’re now inclusive of the new tax.
Prices for subscription to other Google-owned services such as YouTube Music Premium and YouTube Premium also unchanged after the new year had rolled in. Their monthly subscription are still listed as RM 14.90 and RM17.90 respectively.
Most Malaysian consumers had feared for an inevitable price hike when the government’s new 6% digital tax was confirmed to be imposed on Google Play Store products. So far, we have not seen that happened yet though.
(Sources: Google Play Store / YouTube Music / YouTube Premium.)
