This is after the Government mooted rules to introduce Value Added Tax (VAT) on digital content consumed in the country. The Value Added Tax (Digital Marketplace Supply) Regulations, 2020 introduces new obligations that are likely to disrupt operations for both local and international companies. Under the new law, subscription-based media content including news, magazines, journals, streaming of TV shows and music, podcasts and online gaming shall also be subject to the new digital services VAT. The VAT proposals come in the wake of a new digital services tax introduced by the National Treasury that are expected to come in effect this financial year. Google last year said a digital tax could raise the cost of products and services adding that some digital platforms are end-to-end encrypted.

Source: Standard Digital June 02, 2020 16:51 UTC