Due to requirements in some local markets, withholding taxes (WHT) may apply to developers offering Google Play Store app and in-app purchases made in those countries.
As part of our service to developers, Google monitors changes to tax regulations and notifies developers of changes to Google’s tax rules and policies. Developers can also reach out to our Google Play developer support for help on the following topics:
- How to manage taxes in Play Console
- Questions about tax rates
- Tax treaties, certificates, or other documentation
- Other general tax-related inquiries
Important: Google can't provide tax advice. Consult a professional tax advisor for guidance on taxes.
Region and country-specific guidelines
If you are paid in non-BRL currency and you offer Google Play Store app and in-app purchases made via any available form of payment by customers in Brazil, Google or its payment processor partners deduct the cost of Brazilian withholding taxes (WHT) from your earnings. Brazilian WHTs consist of IRRF (Imposto de Renda Retido na Fonte) and CIDE (Contribuição de Intervenção no Domínio Econômico), with applicable rates determined based on your location.
Brazil withholding taxes are deducted from your earnings if you are paid in non-BRL currency. If you are a Brazilian developer paid in non-BRL currency, you may be eligible to migrate to a BRL account. You can find additional details about migrating to a BRL account and currency support for Brazilian Real here.
If you are a tax resident in a supported country that has a Double Tax Treaty with Brazil and you provide your tax information to Google, Google will determine whether you may be eligible for a treaty rate of withholding on IRRF. There is no impact to CIDE, which continues to apply. You can find additional details about how to apply for treaty rates here.
If you offer Google Play Store app and in-app purchases made via direct carrier billing (DCB) by customers in Egypt, Google or its payment processor partners will deduct up to 20% of withholding tax (WHT).
If you're located in India and offer Google Play Store app and in-app purchases, Google will deduct Indian withholding taxes (WHT) from your proceeds and deposit such WHT with the Government of India. The amount of such WHT is equal to:
- 0.1% of the customer purchase price (excluding India GST) from proceeds due to you from Google, if you have provided your Permanent Account Number (PAN) to Google; or
- 5% of the customer purchase price (excluding India GST) from proceeds due to you from Google, if you have not provided your PAN to Google.
To apply the correct rate of withholding tax, Google is required to collect your Indian PAN. Here’s how you can provide Google with your PAN:
- Open Play Console and go to the Payments profile page (Setup
> Payments profile).
- In the "Settings" section, click Manage settings.
- Scroll down to "India tax info" and click the pencil icon
.
- Enter or update your PAN.
- Click Save.
If you offer Google Play Store app and in-app purchases made via direct carrier billing (DCB) by customers in Kuwait, Google or its payment processor partners may deduct up to 5% of withholding tax (WHT).
If you offer Google Play Store app and in-app purchases made via direct carrier billing (DCB) by customers in Myanmar, Google or its payment processor partners will deduct up to 2.5% of withholding tax (WHT).
If you offer Google Play Store app and in-app purchases made via direct carrier billing (DCB) by customers in Sri Lanka, Google or its payment processor partners will deduct up to 10% of withholding tax (WHT).
Under the local Taiwan tax legislation, Google is obligated to withhold tax on payments made to you, where such payments are associated with sales you have made to end users in Taiwan through the Play Store.
This affects developers who do not possess either:
- A Taiwan VAT ID (8 digit numeral number) or
- A foreign TIN registered in Taiwan or
- A valid tax exemption approval in Taiwan
If you are unable to provide any of the information above, Google is obligated to apply and deduct a 3% withholding tax on the payment made to you for all of your transactions with users in Taiwan. In addition, if Google is applying the withholding tax, Google will not be able to provide a specific withholding tax certificate issued by the Taiwanese tax authorities in your name.
Withholding tax documents
The following withholding tax documents are available for download from the Download financial reports page (Download reports > Financial) in Play Console. You must have the View financial data, orders, and cancellation data survey responses permission.
Withholding tax document
Google currently provides an annual withholding tax statement, which reflects the withholding rates and amounts deducted from your earnings proceeds by country for the calendar year.
These information statements are not official government documents and have been prepared by Google for your informational purposes only. They are not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Please consult your tax adviser for specific advice regarding the information statement.
India withholding tax certificates (Form 16A)
India withholding tax certificates (Form 16A) are provided quarterly for developers with a merchant account based in India. The details (for example, PAN, the legal name of the PAN holder, etc.) you provide in your payment profile must be correct.
These certificates will be available 15 days after the filing date of quarterly statements for the quarter. For example, if the quarterly filing date is January 31st certificates should be accessible from February 15th.
Frequently asked questions
Global questions
Why is the developer responsible for these charges?Withholding taxes are taxes on developers’ earnings from sales to users in these local markets.
Because withholding taxes are required, the only way to opt-out of withholding taxes is to remove your app from distribution in the countries where withholding taxes apply.
Yes, the WHT will show up as a line item on the developer’s earnings report. The WHT will be shown as:
- Direct carrier billing (DCB) transactions in Egypt (EG), Kuwait (KW), Myanmar (MM) and Sri Lanka (LK): “Direct Carrier Billing Withholding Tax”
- All form of payment transactions in BR: “BRAZIL_IRRF" and "BRAZIL_CIDE"
- All form of payment transactions in TW: "TAIWAN_WITHHOLDING_TAX_2017_2019," "TAIWAN_WITHHOLDING_TAX_2020," and "TAIWAN_WITHHOLDING_TAX"
No.
No. These taxes arise on your income from sales to users in this country or region.
Questions on US and Singapore certifications in section 3.6 of the DDA
Does the Play Developer Distribution Agreement (DDA) prohibit a developer from releasing, distributing or selling an app to the US and/or Singapore markets?No. Section 3.6 of the DDA does not prohibit selling to these markets regardless of where a developer is located or tax resident.
No. Section 3.6 of the DDA does not require notification because you want to release a new game or app in the US and/or Singapore markets.
Generally, no, unless your game or app offers an in-app subscription and you support/maintain the subscription content from within the US or Singapore and are not a tax resident of the country from which you provide the services (e.g., you or your employees are physically present in the US or Singapore and perform the activities to maintain/support the subscription content in one of those countries).
Services do not generally refer to merely the sale of an app or game. Services also generally do not mean the sale of an in-app product unless the in-app product is subscription based. The revenue paid to developers for in-app subscriptions may be considered service income.
Examples of performing services include the acts you perform to update or maintain content with respect to a subscription offering. It may also include any customer support you provide with respect to updating or maintaining subscription content. Services generally do not include the work in developing, building, selling, marketing or supporting a game or app except as it relates to subscription content offered within the game or app.
This component of the DDA only pertains to the location of your Play Developer Account Entity activities in maintaining subscriptions sold through Google Play. This does not include the work performed by a US or Singapore affiliate entity if they are not a party to the DDA.
Please email [email protected] and include the following information:
1. Name of individual or business entity on the Google Play developer account
2. Your country of tax residence
3. Reason for notification:
a. Performing service in the US but are resident outside the US
b. Performing services in Singapore but are resident outside Singapore
c. Performing services in the US and Singapore but are resident outside both countries
d. Other - please explain why you are sending a notification or why you think a notification may be required.
4. Play Developer account information:
a. Name
b. Profile ID
India-specific questions
What is a PAN?A permanent account number (PAN) is a ten-character alphanumeric identifier, issued by the Indian Income Tax Department. It's considered as the tax identification number for income/direct tax purposes.
Please note that the name on the withholding tax certificate/Form 16A is based on the name belonging to the PAN that you have provided Google, as is available with the Indian Income tax department. Google cannot amend the name shown on the certificate, which is generated based on records of the Indian Income tax department.