This country was safe from additional taxes, but from 2021, there is no excuse: the legalities will no longer allow some people to pay less than what they should.

The Canadian pricing has been higher than in the United States (80-90 CAD for a game, which is higher than 60 USD), and with the digital sales, PlayStation 4 users were lucky. The sales tax did not affect the PlayStation Store (so digital) purchases, but this is no longer possible. In the worst-case scenario, a 15% sales tax will hit the purchases from Sony’s store (as the highest sales tax is 15% in one of the Canadian provinces). With the price hike, a 90 CAD game will cost nearly 104.

The PlayStation Store didn’t boost the prices because of a loophole in the laws: only companies with a physical presence in Canada had to charge sales tax. And, as such, Microsoft and Nintendo have had them. However, Sony does not have a physical presence in the country. Chyrstia Freeland, the federal finance minister of Canada, said that the loophole is now closed.

From June 1, 2021, everyone who sells digital goods in Canada will have to charge sales tax, including Sony (and Netflix). It means 5-15% sales tax will have to be slapped on purchases and subscriptions, depending on which province you are in. The additional money, which could be as much as a billion CAD over five years, will be used to fund a new Canada-wide childcare system.

So there are no more tricks via the PlayStation Store – until then, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise if we saw digital sales and subscriptions go through a massive boost in May 2021 to get the items with the old price tag.

Source: WCCFTech

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