12% VAT Tax on Steam Games: What Parents & Gamer Parents Need To Know
Frustrating as it is, it looks like buying our favorite Steam games in the PH might get pricier
After the declaration of adding tax to digital services, needless to say, families were shocked. Many of us have been relying on these digital services, with some of these being the reason we survived the pandemic. While most parents rely on Disney+ and Netflix, our kids (or even ourselves, who are gamers) often spend money on Steam — one of the biggest and most popular platforms for selling and playing games.
Why should we care about these Steam games?
While most parents would prefer that their kids were not glued to the screen playing video games, some kids dream of being video game developers, and Steam is where most studios start. Steam, as a website, made it convenient for even independent video game studios and smaller teams to market their games, making sure they could get their name out there, especially when bigger studios and publishers had more marketing money to spare. Think of it as a gamer version of Lazada and Shoppee.
And like any online store, it offers discounts and promos. Black Friday Sale, Cyber Monday Sale — sometimes, games get as cheap as PHP100.00 to PHP200.00, depending on what we’re buying.
Steam also sometimes serves as a portal for other countries when the game’s country of origin doesn’t accept a particular kind of bank or e-wallet. Most Filipinos use PayPal as a portal to buy these games. The best part is, once bought, it stays in a “library.” And let’s be honest, it’s a godsend for parents who grew up in the VCD-DVD era. Cabinets and drawers are now free to hold other things instead of those tacky, black, plastic disc jackets.
Has the price hike started?
Digital services started implementing the tax on June 1, 2025, with the BIR assuring last year that the hike for “foreign” game distributors won’t be so big. However, some who use Steam may notice that the VAT isn’t applied upon adding to cart. According to the subreddit, some games have changed in price while others have not because the developers themselves have been absorbing the tax. So, for our kids who dream of being video game developers or are studying Game Development in college, this is something they’ll need to know business-wise.
However, some gamers have pointed out that this additional charge may force game studios and publishers to adapt a “regional pricing system.” Instead of just converting price they sell it for in their home country, they have to do extra research on how much people are willing to spend for a video game in the other country.
Kids Will Always Grow Up On A Video Game (Or Two)
Now that we live in the Digital Age, video games will always find a way to be part of a kid’s life. Especially if they’ve lived their early years during the pandemic, video games were their doorway to social interaction. Sure, they didn’t see the person face-to-face; there was still a conversation nonetheless. Video games do play a role in language development, especially in English, and unfortunately, in Filipino swear words.
While it’s too early to tell for the gamer families how the 12% VAT will affect video game time at home, parents who have kids dreaming of becoming video game developers may have to drop a bit of a reality bombshell on them. After all, it takes money, time, and effort to make their dreams a reality.
More about video games?
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