Netflix has increased their Australian pricing in light of new GST rules

Your Australian Netflix account just got more expensive, with the US-based company increasing prices to adhere to the new so-called ‘Netflix tax’ which has been applied to imported products and services available digitally that kicks off in the new financial year.

The new prices have come into effect today, with the standard definition plan jumping by $1 to $9.99 per month, while the HD plan now costs $13.99, an increase of $2 and finally the Ultra HD (and 4 user) plan now costs $17.99 per month – all now inclusive of GST.

The so-called ‘Netflix tax’ was introduced in an effort to gather tax on services being rendered by overseas companies charging Australians but not returning any taxes. Essentially, any digital product or service purchased or rendered will incur a 10% tax just like a physical product or service purchased here in Australia.

While the tax has been labelled the ‘Netflix Tax’, it’s not just Netflix who will be adding the GST to purchases. Companies like Google have advised they will begin charging GST on some of their services such as their Contributor program, but hasn’t yet said anything about their monthly streaming services YouTube Red or Google Play Music.

Australian based Streaming Video on Demand services Stan and Foxtel Now already incorporate GST into their pricing.

There will still be a number of Netflix customers in Australia with a US-based Netflix account, started before the company expanded operations to Australia. At this stage, those customers don’t appear to be getting hit with any additional price hikes.