caz wrote:Doesn't steam rinse devs for fees on top of their own countries taxes?
They do for in app purchases. But there is also the ability for free to play games to seemingly avoid the steam tax by offering purchases through their own web store (See Albion Online and War Thunder, which upcharge in-app purchases by the exact amount Steam charges, but offers, even to steam accounts, the ability to purchase items from their web stores at the same price as accounts which were not created by steam users.)
I'm not actually sure that Sea Tribe's change in legal entity here is necessary for steam. It appears that historically, steam did not allow pass through partnerships from non-US residents to publish, unless they created a company (like this) they could tax.
However, it appears more recently Steam has allowed non-US pass through partnerships, so long as all partners provide appropriate tax data. I am not sure whether or not Jorb and Loftar were aware of this, or if they could satisfy Steam's tax requirements as is. So, I am not going to strongly conclude that this change to a taxable entity is necessarily a steam related change... Or that it isn't. There's some evidence that's not necessary, which would lead to the conclusion this isn't steam related.
But, I think it probably is Steam related. I am merely acknowledging the possibility and evidence that points to other possible conclusions.
