Steam starts paying 10% GST in AUS, but so do you

In an email being rolled out to developers, Valve has stipulated that they are going to start charging the 10% Goods and Services (GST) tax in Australia. The GST will be included in the advertised price,  according to the email, just as Australians experience with their regular retail shopping.

Australia isn’t the only locale being impacted however; Switzerland, South Korea, Japan, New Zealand, Iceland, South Africa, and India will all now be charged sales tax on Steam.

Steam operating by Australian law is a good thing and it means that we’ll hopefully be seeing prices in AUD soon, as opposed to the current USD. The change does however mean that Steam games are going to be getting 10% more expensive as Valve and developers pass the cost on to the gamer.

With Steam games already being quite expensive for Australians compared to the US, I actually thought GST was included in the price already. Another price hike won’t be welcomed by many people, although I certainly hope it means the addition of the Australian dollar to the store. Pricing being in USD is always a pain, so if they can make that change it could certainly help soften the blow of the 10% increase.

The change is scheduled to take place in July of this year.