Advanced | Payments

Tax information

Apple Search Ads operates under a regional sales model. See Terms of Service for details. Your purchase of Apple Search Ads services could be subject to tax in certain countries and/or regions, including but not limited to, Value Added Tax (VAT), Sales and Use Tax, Goods and Services Tax (GST) and consumption tax. Apple shall determine and invoice you for such taxes, as required under applicable tax laws. If you have any questions, please consult your tax adviser. Note that Apple cannot advise customers on tax issues.

Note that Apple Distribution International, Ltd. will collect and receive funds from you on behalf of other Apple legal entities, but may not be the Apple legal entity issuing the specific invoice. In addition, “Invoice” refers to the invoices available on your Apple Search Ads online account. These are not the billing summaries or statements you receive on a monthly basis.

How tax is applied

Generally, the applicability of tax depends on a combination of factors:

Your business location, that is, the country or region where your business is legally registered and you’re considered a tax resident. In many cases, this will be the country or region where your business’s main corporate office, headquarters or principal business is located, or the country or region that your business lists on official company letterhead.
Your tax information, such as valid tax ID, exemption status and so on.
The billing Apple legal entity, depending on the location of the App Store serving Apple Search Ads for you.

In the event that any tax authority imposes tax compliance responsibility on the customers of Apple Search Ads services including, but not limited to, reverse charge accounting, self-accounting and reporting, you shall take full responsibility for such obligation.

How to declare tax exemption

If your business is based in the US or Canada, you may declare your business is tax-exempt (if applicable) on the Business Details page in your Apple Search Ads account. You’ll then be prompted to complete an application process through Avalara, and verify your tax exempt status. Once approved, you’ll receive a tax-exemption certificate, which you’ll need to enter back on your Apple Search Ads Business Details page.

How withholding tax works

In the event that any amount payable by you to Apple for Apple Search Ads services is subject to any applicable withholding tax, and that you are required to collect and remit such tax, you shall gross up the relevant payment to Apple, so that after you deduct and remit the applicable withholding tax to tax authority, Apple shall receive the same amount as originally invoiced. You shall bear full responsibility for such compliance obligations. If you apply any applicable withholding tax, please properly indicate on any withholding tax documentation the correct Apple legal entity issuing the specific invoice.

Additional tax information by business location (country or region)

Australia

If your business location is Australia, Australian GST will be applicable on the Apple Search Ads invoice issued by Apple Pty Ltd to you. It is a condition that you provide your Australian Business Number (“ABN”) to Apple and be registered for GST in Australia to use Apple Search Ads services.

Canada

If your business location is Canada, and you have provided GST and/or QST numbers as well as a valid exemption certificate, Apple is not required to charge taxes on your Apple Search Ads invoice. Otherwise, your purchase of Apple Search Ads services could be subject to GST/HST/PST/QST depending on your province.

Colombia

If your business location is Colombia, you must be a business customer registered for VAT (Impuesto Sobre Las Ventas or IVA) in Colombia and provide Apple with a valid NIT (Número De Identificación Tributaria). You shall be fully responsible for submitting any applicable Colombian VAT and other related VAT formal duties.

Hungary

If your business location is Hungary, Apple Distribution International, Ltd. hereby declares that if it meets the relevant provisions and threshold requirements as set out in Act XXII of 2014 on Advertising Tax, it will comply with any tax reporting and payment obligations as appropriate.

India

If your business location is India, and you have provided a valid GST registration number in India, Apple is not required to charge taxes on Apple Search Ads invoices issued to you. You must be registered for India GST to use Apple Search Ads services. Apple cannot provide guidance on GST or other taxes on Apple Search Ads services availed by you. Whether or not any equalisation levy or GST is payable by you on a reverse charge basis needs to be analysed by you with your tax adviser, and such taxes, if payable, would be borne by you.

Ireland

If your business location is Ireland, Apple Distribution International, Ltd. is required to charge VAT on its Apple Search Ads invoices issued to you.

Japan

If your business location is Japan, Japanese Consumption Tax (JCT) will be applicable on the Apple Search Ads invoice issued by iTunes K.K. to you. You shall reverse charge any Japanese Consumption Tax that is payable on Apple Search Ads invoices issued by Apple legal entities other than iTunes K.K.

New Zealand

If your business location is New Zealand, and you have provided a New Zealand Business Number or GST Number, Apple is not required to charge taxes on Apple Search Ads invoices issued to you. You must be registered for New Zealand GST to use Apple Search Ads services.

Russia

If your business location is in the Russian Federation (“Russia”) or you are subject to the jurisdiction thereof, Apple Search Ads Services shall be provided to your business directly by Apple Distribution International, Ltd. irrespective of the location of the App Store serving your Ad Content.

South Korea

If your business location is in the Republic of Korea, you represent, warrant and agree that (1) You hold a valid Business Registration Number or Registration Number with NTS (National Tax Service) (collectively “Korean Tax ID”) and the relevant certificate or other evidence for such Korean Tax ID; (2) You will provide Apple with your Korean Tax ID in a timely manner and, upon request by Apple, the relevant certificate or other evidence for such Korean Tax ID; and (3) You will immediately notify Apple if you cease to hold a valid Korean Tax ID.

Switzerland

If your business location is Switzerland, Apple Distribution International, Ltd. is required to charge VAT on its Apple Search Ads invoices issued to you, regardless of whether you are VAT registered in Switzerland or not. Apple Distribution International, Ltd. is a VAT registered entity for the purposes of the Swiss VAT regime.

Taiwan

If your business location is Taiwan, and you have provided a valid Taiwan Unified Business Number (sometimes referred to as “Corporate ID”, “Corporate Tax ID” or “VAT ID”), Apple is not required to charge taxes on Apple Search Ads invoices issued to you. You must be an enterprise customer to use Apple Search Ads services.

Turkey

If your business location is Turkey, any withholding taxes or other taxes (including but not limited to tax withheld or levied on advertising services per Presidential Decree numbered 476) shall be on your account, and shall not reduce the amount payable to Apple under this Agreement. If Apple is required by relevant tax authorities to pay any such unpaid tax amounts, you shall promptly reimburse Apple the applicable taxes, interest, penalty and also the cost of litigation as the case may be, upon Apple’s request.

United States

If your business location is the United States, and you have provided a valid exemption certificate, Apple is not required to charge taxes on your Apple Search Ads invoice. If you don’t provide a valid exemption certificate, your purchase of Apple Search Ads services could be subject to sales tax depending on your local and/or state jurisdiction.

For the following countries:

Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom:

If you have provided a valid VAT ID, Apple is not required to charge VAT on Apple Search Ads invoices issued to you. You may have your own VAT compliance responsibilities under your home country’s VAT regime, so you should take steps to understand your compliance obligation in this regard. Apple assumes no responsibility for tax compliance obligations that may exist for Apple Search Ads customers in their home country.
If you have not provided a valid VAT ID, Apple Distribution International, Ltd. is required to charge VAT on its Apple Search Ads invoices issued to you per tax laws in your business location country. Apple Distribution International, Ltd. is registered for VAT in your business location country for the purposes of collecting this VAT.

Other countries or regions not mentioned above

If your business location is not one of the countries or regions mentioned above, Apple is not required to charge taxes on Apple Search Ads invoices issued to you.

How tax affects your Apple Search Ads budget

Tax will not be accounted for in your campaign budget. You may see any applicable taxes added as a new line on your invoice. Or, if you pay by credit card, they will be included in the charge on your credit card statement.

How credit card customers are charged

The way we charge your account will change in order to reflect how your budget is being spent in each region.

If, for example, you have a $500 (US) budget:

Previously: Charges appear as a single number that reflects all campaigns together every $500 (US) or seven days.

New: Multiple charges appear because they’re itemised to show each legal entity where ads appeared, every $500 (US) or seven days.

For example, if you’re based in Australia but run a campaign in the US and UK, the charges will be itemised on your billing summary to show every country and region where your ads appeared. Depending on where your ads run, you may see up to a total of five separate charges on your billing summary at one time, but they won’t exceed your $500 (US) threshold. Advertisers in Russia should receive invoices from Apple Distribution International, Ltd. only.

Please note that if you plan to run ads on the App Store in multiple countries and regions, you should notify your credit card company to ensure that there won’t be any issues processing foreign transactions.

How the tax change affects line of credit customers

Separate invoices will be issued by each Apple legal entity. However, we will also issue you an aggregated billing summary that you can use to make a single consolidated payment to Apple. Look for details on the Billing page under Account Settings.

Billing issues