Apple’s App Store tax cut to 15% now in effect; Epic Games ineligible

Recently, Apple announced its intentions to reduce its App Store commissions from 30% to 15% to developers who make under $1 million in annual revenue via its store. This new ‘Small Business Program’ is now live, with developers being able to enroll onto the program – though Epic Games is of course ineligible.

The debate surrounding the 30% digital store commissions have existed for as long as the stores themselves. The argument made by many was the fact that upkeep on a digital store was nowhere near as costly as that of a physical store, and so naturally commission rates should be reflective of that fact.

While some storefronts, such as the Epic Games Store, embraced the lower commission rates, others including Apple, chose to stick with the regular 30% standard. This led to the now famous lawsuit between Apple and Epic Games, which is still ongoing, and likely will be for quite some time.

That being said, in amongst all this, Apple announced that it would be lowering its App Store commissions from 30% to 15% to developers who make less than $1 million in annual revenue from the store. This ‘Small Business Program’ as it has been called, will go in effect from the 1st of January 2021, though enrollment for the year will close on the 18th of December.

According to Apple “this program helps you invest more resources into your business so you can continue building great apps. The vast majority of developers on the App Store who sell digital goods and services are eligible — simply complete a short enrollment form.”

This move is undoubtedly good for developers, though of course it does little for Epic Games, meaning that the conflict between the two tech giants is likely to continue just as is. It’ll be interesting to see how this saga eventually concludes.

KitGuru says: What do you think of digital store commissions? What is an appropriate percentage cut in your opinion? Who do you think will come out on top between Apple and Epic Games? Let us know down below.

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