Time to try the 'demo' then and buy less games and only when there is a sale.
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OH NOES TAX EVASION NOT POSSIBLE ANYMORE LET'S FUCK OVER CUSTOMERS
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and this is your explanation why every single game on steam is cheaper in russia? no, i bet valve gives recommendations to the publishers, which will be used unless the publisher acts and changes them. this would explain why many indie games (from 1-man companies who don't have a clue how to sell in different regions with the most profit) have a similar price reduction for RU. if a new indie game costs 10$, i already know that in most cases i have to pay 3.5-4 keys if i buy from a russian. at least it was that way, until they killed trading...
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But we know how it happened with region lock, first it was not locked by default, then it became locked by default and almost every new game on the market became region locked. Most of the time publishers just do what steam recommend them to do.
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And? You say the same thing I said: Steam only recommends them pricing policy, bu the final word is always on developers
http://www.pcgamer.com/the-weird-ecomomics-behind-steam-prices-around-the-world/
"The next step is determining the price for other regions. When you submit a game to Steam, Valve automatically suggests prices for local currencies in other regions. You have the option to change these numbers at will, but a suggestion is made"
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Its a financial calculation.
Their pricing isn't globally represented but rather on local financial strength.
Simply put, rather than saying "This game is worth $60" - they say "this game is worth whatever it costs to buy bread in your area multiplied by X". (Its a bit more complex, but thats what it comes down to.)
Cost of living around the world varies greatly. So do monthly/hourly wages. What people get paid in russia compared to western europe for example does not compare.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_European_countries_by_average_wage
Average net wages for Netherlands amount to €2136 a month (and I can guarantee you, thats a high average - plenty of people have to do with much less)
Meanwhile average wages for Russia convert to €382 a month (and the same 'average' applies).
So tell me, if games would cost €60 in Russia, how many people would be buying games at all?
So rather than not selling anything there, they'll sell at a lower point.
Whereas in western Europe, where the wages are far higher - the equivalent "buying power" is represented by a far greater figure.
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27% tax in Greece so for example if Greece is in region with EU2 Region prices and 27% tax that means a game on sale for 4.99€ will be 6.33€? Seriously I cannot even find the words to comment on that.
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So Volvo only pays 3% tax? Then why the hell do we pay at least 20% more than everyone else?
Time to sail, brothers!
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This law has been known for years, and people have been saying that prices will go up for the last 12 months. That site is fucking late. Valve already add 20%-25% extra for Europeans to cover tax. Hence why the European prices are invariably higher than American prices. If you ask Valve they'll tell you they already pay tax to the Authorities in the country you buy from.
"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/"
Nothing to see here. More sensationalist reddit nonsense...
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You're saying that even though Valve state on their website that tax is paid to the individual EU countries, they've actually been just hanging onto it? Yeah, I'm going to need some kind of source for that. They already incorporate the tax in the costs, see what I posted above. There will be no tax increase. On any of the sites. The taxes are already incorporated on all of them. IG, Humble, Steam, Origin, all already incorporate the tax rate of your country in the cost shown. This is just people not knowing what they're talking about and getting their knickers in a twist over nothing.
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You're saying that even though Valve state on their website that tax is paid to the individual EU countries, they've actually been just hanging onto it?
Naaah valve would never do such a thing, I mean after they implemented trade locks on all regions to save poor devs from the crashing ruble and they made gifts untradable for a month to protect us poor simpletons from scammers they wouldn't just start lying about stuff all of a sudden right?
Valve has and still is breaking EU consumer laws despite multiple warnings, what makes you think they won't exploit a loophole when it comes to millions of dollars, you're telling me that despite having a office in Luxemburg they're such good ol' chaps that they just pay extra taxes just cause they're nice like that?
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Relevant quote: "The revelations showed the tiny duchy of Luxembourg gave hundreds of global firms huge tax breaks, sometimes at almost zero rates, including household names such as Pepsi, IKEA and Deutsche Bank." Guess why Valve had their EU site in Luxembourg? Gee, couldn't have anything to do with these zero tax rates that won't be continued now it turned into scandal, could it? You know there is no double taxation in EU so 0% in Luxembourg = no tax anywhere in EU?
If there's someone "not knowing what they're talking about" it's someone who doesn't pay attention to news.
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That's tax on their profits. That's not tax on products people buy. There's a difference. Nowhere in there does it state that Valve (or any company) doesn't pay VAT on the products they sell. No point paying attention to the news if you don't know what the fuck it's about.
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Yeah tell me about it.I found only reacently that i'm in the tier 1 on EU pricing.It's funny because the country i live in isn't that rich as they assume.
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Both. Luxembourg let companies dodge tax EU-wide, now that it has became a huge scandal Valve actually has to pay taxes now instead of walking away after paying 1/100 of proper tax. I just wonder where the money they lied was collected toward tax went :|
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Yeah this is sad i already pay european prices and the country that i live in isn't in EU.Fuck EU laws
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+1... We have salaries from Russia and prices from Germany here :(
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As usual, the users are the ones who get fucked. No probs, I'll stick to G2A and Kinguin.
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But... isn't that 1€=1$ bullshit about "Oh noes, we need to pay VAT so that's why you pay more" and now it turns out this was without (ok, 3%) VAT?!
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nope, you didn't understand: 3% is the income tax (luxemburg is a tax haven). VAT is 15% in luxemburg and up to 27% in eurozone. VAT is the main reason you pay a game more in europe than in US, where VAT doesn't exist on digital products (unles you live in Washington State)
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If you want to get huffy, go picket the bundle site that are billing from the EU (BungleStars and Indie Gala e.g.) as they've been charging VAT before they had any need to pay it onwards. Basically they made an extra +/-20% on purchases by EU-customers.
Maybe next year IG will have their staff retreat in Miami again or maybe they just will just quit the BlockStorm scam belated..
It's VAT and therefore should only payable by EU-citizens for purchases within the EU from 01.01.2015 onwards. That Valve e.g. decided to have a legal entity in the EU has no impact for them in this matter as such; they just are a go-between just like before.
This PDF should be helpful as it contains 'just about' all relevant info but mind you, it's meant for people in our Finance departments from our good friends at Ernst & Young so maybe you might want to skim it a bit.. (URL intentionally left unedited):
http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/EY-Digital_products_and_services_in_2015/$FILE/Digital_VAT_Campaign_Brochure.pdf
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VAT has existed for years, from early 90's.
They are just changing VAT rules, so that EU based service providers charge VAT based on rate at buyers country.
This has been already case for US-based companies since around 2004.
So Steam was under this rule, before they formed EU branch, back then they added VAT at checkout and prices were without VAT on the site. Humble Bundle has same prices for EU and non-EU, they just substract VAT from price.
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Not quite right. Digital goods will now fall within different scales of taxes, making them a local affair instead of low-rate 'imports'.
Steam includes VAT in prices as 'everybody else does' (in the EU), this has no bearing on any changes to the tax raise. Taxes go up, Steam prices will likely follow as they are unlikely to take the hit themselves.
Humble Store does not charge the same for EU and non-EU, regardless of tax %. Prices in the Humble Store do not even always have the same discrepancy % between US and EU.
The only bundler that has NOT been overcharging by 20% thus far from the EU-based ones is BundleBandits. The rest have been charging amounts, claiming they have to pay extra VAT themselves, when they do not actually owe this VAT. On their balance sheets it will be profit (which ofc will be charged on income tax but heck..)
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I doubt prices will generally raise, some games might.
1) Publishers set prices with VAT and even Swedish sites (VAT 25%) have same prices as Steam.
2) There's no fees related to each copy, so there's no need to raise prices, which would be negative PR.
I think only game that raised price in EU is Next Car Game. (Price changes had to be submitted before sales, or after sales, which is few days into next year)
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Source
(The source is a danish newssite but assuming you use chrome it's translates to English rather well)
Due to changes in EU laws starting 1 January 2015 Valve will be forced to pay taxes in the country the purchase has been made from instead of Luxembourg where their European branch is located, It's not clear if prices will increase since the +-25% higher price we pay should already cover taxes (current tax rate is 3% for valve) but you never know, figured i'd pass this along since noone has posted anything related to this.
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