Understanding Your Tax Responsibilities on Google Play

Important: Consult this page for detailed country information about Transaction Taxes on Google Play. These guidelines describe how transaction taxes work on Google Play. Google cannot provide you with tax advice. Please consult your tax advisor for guidance on how taxes may impact you and your sales to customers on Google Play.

Transaction tax rates

Transaction taxes, such as sales tax or value-added tax (VAT), may apply to the sale of your product. Google uses multiple inputs to calculate transaction taxes in countries or regions where taxes apply. These inputs may include: rates you provide, your product tax category selection in Play Console, your end user’s (buyer) legal country, your country, or other requirements in accordance with local laws and regulations.

Tax responsibility: Google vs. Seller

Each transaction tax type comes with its own collection and remittance requirements, determined by local tax laws. In some cases, the seller is responsible. In others, local laws shift the responsibility to Google.

Scenario 1: When Google is Responsible to collect and remit taxes

No rate customization: When Google is responsible to collect and remit taxes, you cannot adjust the tax rate applicable to the transaction. Rates are determined and applied by Google in accordance with local tax laws. However, your product tax categories may impact the tax rates that Google applies.
Transparency of rates: Tax rates may or may not be displayed in the Play Console/Google Payments Center, depending on the jurisdiction. You can find the actual rates applied to your sales in the financial reports within your Google Play console.

Scenario 2: When You (the Seller) are Responsible to collect and remit taxes

Customization options: You may choose to set transaction tax rates for transactions with customers in specific countries or regions through the Tax Rates tab in the Google Payments Center.
Tax Application: When tax is your responsibility and you do not provide any inputs at a country and/or jurisdiction level, Google by default does not set any transaction taxes, even if you provide a product tax category input to Google.

Note: Where you are responsible for transaction taxes on your transactions with customers, you are responsible for the following, including (but not limited to): (a) determining if the transaction is taxable; (b) charging and collecting the transaction taxes at the applicable rate; (c) remitting the transaction taxes to the applicable governmental tax authority; and (d) providing any required documentation to the user or applicable governmental tax authority. You are solely responsible for providing and maintaining accurate inputs that impact taxes on your transactions, including for any tax categorization. Any adjustments that you make to product tax categorization will take effect only for future sales.

Product Tax Categories

The Product Tax Category ("PTC") is a critical input to determine the applicable taxes and tax rates on any transaction. The following PTCs are available on Google Play.

Product Tax Category	Code	Description
Digital App Sales	PTC023DIG	Access to software programs or other electronic items that users purchase from the Internet. This default tax category will be applied to all SKUs unless a specific category is selected.
Subscription Audio books	PTC158AUD	Access to recordings of books read aloud where access is conditioned upon continued subscription payment. Does not consist of adult content or exclusively or mainly of advertising material.
Subscription E-Books	PTC159EBO	Access to digital books (E-books) where access is conditioned upon continued subscription payment. Does not consist of adult content or exclusively or mainly of advertising material, or materials primarily of a technical nature without additional content, such as directories, tables, lists, calendars, prospectuses, catalog, or maps.
Subscription Newsletter	PTC160NEW	A report, published at regular intervals, that contains previously unknown information, generally confined to one broad subject, and advertising. The report does not consist of adult content or exclusively or mainly of advertising, audio, or video material.
Subscription Newspaper	PTC161NEW	A digital version of a traditional newspaper published at regular intervals. The newspaper does not consist exclusively of adult content or mainly of advertising, audio, or video material.
Subscription Periodical	PTC162PER	Publications, including magazines, distributed on a periodic basis. The publication does not consist of adult content or exclusively or mainly of advertising, audio, or video material.
Subscription School Textbook	PTC163SCH	Works that are required as part of a formal academic education program and are transferred electronically where access is conditioned upon continued subscription payment. Content does not consist of adult content or exclusively or mainly of advertising material.
News Aggregator App	PTC164NEW	News Aggregator Apps provide information about current events or developments in areas of interest such as politics, entertainment, business, science, technology, etc., but they are not the publishers of the underlying content.
Subscription Digital Video	PTC165DIG	A series of related images which, when shown in succession, impart an impression of motion, together with accompanying sounds, if any, and where access is conditioned upon continued subscription payment. Content does not consist exclusively or mainly of advertising material. Examples include streaming and live TV broadcasts.
Subscription Digital Music	PTC166DIG	The recording of sound, which is delivered electronically to the purchaser, and where access is conditioned upon continued subscription payment. Content does not consist exclusively or mainly of advertising material.
Subscription Comic Book	PTC167COM	Digital Comic books are generally recognized in the ordinary and usual sense as a "comic book", except that the product is delivered electronically to the purchaser and access is conditioned upon continued subscription payment. Does not consist of adult content exclusively or mainly of advertising material.
Subscription Religious E-books	PTC168REL	Access to digital books (e-books) that promote religious teachings or are sacred to a faith and where access is conditioned upon continued subscription payment. Does not consist of adult content or exclusively or mainly of advertising material.
Subscription Religious Audio books	PTC169REL	Access to digital audio books that promote religious teachings or are sacred to a faith and where access is conditioned upon continued subscription payment. Does not consist of adult content or exclusively or mainly of advertising material.
One Time Digital Video	PTC170DIG	A series of related images which, when shown in succession, impart an impression of motion, together with accompanying sounds, if any. Content does not consist exclusively or mainly of advertising material.
One Time Digital Music	PTC171DIG	The recording of sound, which is delivered electronically to the purchaser. Content does not consist exclusively or mainly of advertising material.
One Time Audio book without ISBN	PTC172AUD	The recording of a book read aloud that does not have an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) unique to the format (audio). Does not consist of adult content or exclusively or mainly of advertising material.
One Time Audio book with ISBN	PTC173AUD	The recording of a book read aloud that has an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) unique to the format (audio). Does not consist of adult content or exclusively or mainly of advertising material.
One time E-Book without ISBN	PTC174EBO	Works that are generally recognized in the ordinary and usual sense as books, are transferred electronically, but do not have an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) unique to the format (e-book). Does not consist of adult content or exclusively or mainly of advertising material, or materials primarily of a technical nature without additional content, such as directories, tables, lists, calendars, prospectuses, catalogs, or maps.
One Time E-Book with ISBN	PTC175EBO	Works that are generally recognized in the ordinary and usual sense as books, are transferred electronically, and have an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) unique to the format (e-book). Does not consist of adult content or exclusively or mainly of advertising material, or materials primarily of a technical nature without additional content, such as directories, tables, lists, calendars, prospectuses, catalogs, or maps.
One Time School Textbook without ISBN	PTC176SCH	Works that are required as part of a formal academic education program and are transferred electronically but do not have an ISBN (International Standard Book Number). Does not consist of adult content or exclusively or mainly of advertising material.
One Time School Textbook with ISBN	PTC177SCH	Works that are required as part of a formal academic education program transferred electronically and has an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) unique to the format (e-book). Does not consist of adult content or exclusively or mainly of advertising material
One Time Comic Book without ISBN	PTC178COM	Digital Comic books are generally recognized in the ordinary and usual sense as a "comic book", except that the product is delivered electronically to the purchaser but does not have an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) unique to the format (e-book). Does not consist of adult content exclusively or mainly of advertising material.
One Time Comic Book with ISBN	PTC179COM	Digital Comic books are generally recognized in the ordinary and usual sense as a "comic book", except that the product is delivered electronically to the purchaser and has an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) unique to the format (e-book). Does not consist of adult content or exclusively or mainly of advertising material.
One Time Religious E-book with ISBN	PTC180REL	A digital version of a religious book or manual that has an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) unique to the format (e-Book).
One Time Religious E-book without ISBN	PTC181REL	A digital version of a religious book or manual that does not have an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) unique to the format (e-Book).
One Time Religious Audio book with ISBN	PTC182REL	A digital version of a religious book or manual read aloud that has an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) unique to the format (audio). Does not consist of adult content or exclusively or mainly of advertising material.
One Time Religious Audio book without ISBN	PTC183REL	A digital version of a religious book or manual read aloud that does not have an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) unique to the format (audio). Does not consist of adult content or exclusively or mainly of advertising material.

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