Like any product that is sold in the legal market of a country, video games may be subject to the legal framework in tax matters and today it was revealed that the prices of the games and services offered in the PlayStation Store will increase in Colombia and Uruguay and due to that in a few days they will begin to collect the Value Added Tax (VAT).
According to reports, some PlayStation users in Colombia and Uruguay received notification emails from Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) in which they were informed that as of November 11, the prices of games and services of the PlayStation Store will increase by charging VAT. Moments later, the official PlayStation Latin America support site was updated with the official information on this matter and there was confirmed the increase in the cost.
According to SIE, regarding Colombia, the increase will be given by complying with Decree 1415 of the Directorate of National Taxes and Customs (DIAN) which indicates that digital service providers must collect the corresponding taxes with their sales, in this case, VAT. The above means that starting next November 11, the games and services will have a tax of 19% additional to the price of the product, in accordance with the tax laws of that country.
However, in the case of Uruguay, the same situation was presented based on Decree 144/018 of the General Tax Directorate (DGI), which states that digital service providers must include VAT in the collection of their products and services. For the Uruguayan public, the tax will be 22% and its collection will take effect, also, on November 11.
Finally, SIE made it clear that the decision has nothing to do with the company, nor its division of games, and any modification will be in accordance with the tax laws of each country.