New Zealand to introduce tax on all things digital

31 May 2016

The New Zealand Government has now passed a bill which will impose the charge of 15% GST on e-services provided to consumers from foreign providers.

At present, non-resident businesses providing digital services in New Zealand do not have to charge GST on their sales. However, in an effort to remove the unfair advantage that this gives to non-resident companies over New Zealand resident providers, the New Zealand Government has confirmed that GST at 15% will be applied on these types of transactions from 1 October 2016.

This new tax will be applied to a range of electronic services including streaming games, music, apps, films, e-books, e-journals and internet services.