Tax details for commercial marketplace publishers
Appropriate roles: Global admin
This page sets out the tax responsibilities and tax considerations for Commercial Marketplace Publishers (Publishers) and Consumer Marketplace Developers (Developers) in connection with end customer purchases of Publisher/Developer products pursuant to the Microsoft Azure Marketplace Publisher Agreement and the App Developer Agreement, respectively. The information below is in addition to, and not intended to replace, the terms and conditions in the Microsoft Publisher Agreement and the App Developer Agreement. Unless otherwise noted, the information below applies to both Commercial Marketplace Publishers and Consumer Marketplace Developers that make their products/offers available for sale through Microsoft Marketplaces.
End Customer Taxation
Each of Microsoft's and Publishers'/Developers' responsibilities for sales, use, goods and services, value added or similar taxes, if any, on end customer sales (End Customer Taxation) depends on the country in which Publishers/Developers elect to make products/offers available for sale to end customers through the Microsoft Marketplace(s). The table below sets out circumstances and responsibility for End Customer Taxation in countries with sales eligible through Microsoft Marketplace(s). The information below is subject to change, and Publishers/Developers are responsible for reviewing this page for current, accurate information.
In Publisher/Developer-managed countries, Microsoft acts as an agent or commissionaire (as applicable) of Publisher/Developer. Publishers/Developers acknowledge and agree that Publishers/Developers have sole responsibility to determine all compliance required for, and to manage, End Customer Taxation, including but not limited to registration, tax calculation, tax collection, tax remittance, validation of business status of customers and providing tax invoices to customers. Publishers/Developers acknowledge that, with respect to any sale in a Publisher/Developer Managed Country, Microsoft currently may not be able to provide the transaction details required for Publishers/Developers to provide customers with tax invoices.
In Microsoft-managed countries, Microsoft acts as an Agent of the Publisher/Developer. Microsoft assumes responsibility for managing End Customer Taxation, including calculating, collecting and/or remitting certain taxes. For Commercial Marketplace, this may also include validating the business status of end customers by obtaining tax registration numbers or exemption certificates. Microsoft manages End Customer Taxation through either local affiliates or remote affiliates that are registered locally. Microsoft invoices under Microsoft’s registration number. Microsoft includes any taxes collected from end customers on Microsoft’s tax return.
Microsoft makes no warranties that Microsoft’s actions will completely satisfy Publisher/Developer obligations in Microsoft-managed countries. For all Microsoft-managed countries, Microsoft strongly recommends Publishers/Developers work with their own tax advisors to ascertain whether Microsoft-managed tax remittance sufficiently addresses Publishers’/Developers’ compliance requirements. This is particularly critical for any Microsoft-managed countries from which Publishers/Developers sell their products/offers. Microsoft acts as an agent of Publisher/Developer in Microsoft-managed countries.
In Reseller countries, Microsoft acts as a reseller, rather than as Publisher/Developer’s agent, in making Publisher/Developer products/offers available for sale to end customers through the Microsoft Marketplace(s). Publishers/Developers are responsible for sales, use, goods and services, value added or similar taxes, if any, on the sale of products/offers to Microsoft, and Microsoft is responsible for all End Customer Taxation on the resale to end customers.
Publisher/Developer-managed countries:
| Countries | Countries (cont.) | Countries (cont.) | Countries (cont.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Argentina Antigua & Barbuda Aruba Azerbaijan Bangladesh Barbados Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bonaire Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island British Virgin Islands Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cabo Verde Cambodia Cameroon Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Comoros |
Congo Congo (DRC) Cook Islands Costa Rica Cote d'Ivore Curacao Dübouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Gabon Ghana Georgia Gibraltar Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and McDonald Islands Honduras Hong Kong SAR Iraq Israel |
Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Macao Madagascar Malawi Maldives Mali Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Ma Ote Micronesia Moldova Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Nicaragua Niger |
Niue Norfolk Island North Macedonia Pakistan Palestinian Authority Panama Paraguay Peru Philippines Saint Kitts and Nevis Senegal Sri Lanka Tajikistan Tanzania Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkmenistan Uganda Ukraine Uruguay US Virgin Islands Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City Venezuela Vietnam Wallis and Futuna Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe |
Microsoft-managed countries
| Countries | Countries (cont.) | Countries (cont.) | Countries (cont.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Armenia Austria Belarus Bulgaria Belgium Canada Chile Colombia Croatia Cyprus Czechia Denmark Estonia Finland |
France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Ireland Italy Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malaysia |
Malta Monaco Netherlands New Zealand Nigeria Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia Saudi Arabia Serbia Singapore Slovakia |
Slovenia South Africa South Korea Spain Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Thailand Turkey United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States including Puerto Rico |
End-customer taxation with differences in marketplace
| Country | Commercial Marketplace (Microsoft AppSource and Azure Marketplace) | Consumer Marketplace (Microsoft Store) |
|---|---|---|
| Brazil | Reseller except: Publisher managed for purchases made through Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) customer purchase scenario | Developer managed except: Reseller for purchases made via devices running on Windows 10 |
| Mexico | Microsoft managed except: Reseller for purchases through enterprise agreement customer purchase scenario | Microsoft managed |
| Australia | Microsoft managed except: Publisher Managed for purchases through enterprise agreement customer purchase scenario | Microsoft managed |
| China | Marketplace not enabled | Reseller enabled except: developer managed for mobile communications devices running Windows phone 7.x and on personal computers running Windows 8.x |
| Bahrain | Publisher managed | Microsoft managed |
| Oman | Publisher managed | Microsoft managed |
Tax considerations on payouts
In Publishers/Developers-managed countries, Microsoft payout to Publishers/Developers is net of the store fee and any applicable taxes, which may include any of the following: withholding tax and sales, use, goods and services, value added or similar taxes on the store fee.
In applicable Microsoft-managed countries and Resellers, Microsoft payout to Publishers/Developers is net of the store fee and any applicable taxes, which may include any of the following: End Customer Tax, withholding tax and sales, use, goods and services, value added or similar taxes on the store fee. The reports Microsoft makes available to Publishers/Developers identifies the amount of these taxes.
Microsoft collects tax on store fees in the following countries where Publishers/Developers elect to make products/offers available for sale to end customers through the Microsoft Marketplace(s):
| Country | Commercial Marketplace | Consumer Marketplace |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | Tax on service fee | Tax on service fee |
| Canada | Tax on service fee | Tax on service fee |
| Mexico | N/A | Tax on service Fee |
| New Zealand | Tax on service fee | Tax on service fee |
| Singapore | Tax on service fee | Tax on service fee |
Commercial Marketplace payout scenarios
End-customer taxation
Scenario one: Customer in a Publisher-managed country purchases an offer
Scenario two: Customer in a Microsoft-managed country purchases an offer (Publisher country irrelevant)
Scenario three: Foreign publisher makes a cross border sale to an EU-value-added tax (VAT) Registered Customer located in a Microsoft-managed country
Scenario four: Foreign publisher makes a domestic sale to a Customer located in a Microsoft-managed country or a non-domestic sale to a Customer in Switzerland
Scenario five: Customer in a Microsoft-managed country purchases an offer where there is tax on Store Service Fee
Withholding tax
Scenario one: Foreign publisher (with no applicable tax treaty benefits on tax profile) makes a sale to US customer.
Scenario two: Foreign publisher (with applicable tax treaty benefits on tax profile to zero percent rate) with a treaty makes a sale to US customer.
