The golden years are over and GST is about to be added to digital products supplied by overseas companies. Which means, yes, your Netflix subscription is under threat. Coming into effect this Saturday, July 1, the Australian Government will apply a 10 percent tax to Netflix subscriptions as well as purchases from other overseas digital services like Apple Music and Spotify… assuming those companies comply with regulations.So far, Netflix is the only major service to publicly confirm it will apply GST to its Australian service. If you're wondering whether the fairly dull Australian Netflix show selection is worth the extra money, relax—Netflix is already quite cheap, so 10 percent doesn't add up to all that much. Although it's worth noting that most people will already be paying for a VPN in order to gain access to anything worth watching.So how much extra are we talking? Netflix currently has three pricing tiers to choose from, so it depends. The "Standard Definition Plan", which includes one simultaneous stream at a time is currently $8.99 per month, so will presumably cost an extra 89 cents per month—which adds up to an extra $10.68 per year. The "High Definition Plan", which includes two simultaneous streams at a time is $11.99 per month, so you'll be charged an extra $1.19 per month—$14.28 per year. The premium "Ultra High Definition & High Definition Plan" includes up to four simultaneous streams at a time and currently costs $14.99, so that's an extra $1.49 AU per month or $17.88 per year. So regardless of plan, you'll end up paying the approximate equivalent of an extra month for a year's worth of streaming.Similar "Netflix tax" policies have proved controversial overseas, with Canada's Trudeau government refusing a parliamentary committee recommendation that a five percent tax be placed on its version of the streaming service. "We're not going to be raising taxes on the middle class," Trudeau told the press last week.Australian streaming services like Stan, which is already forced to apply GST to its pricing, will be breathing a sigh of relief this Saturday. But if you're feeling angry about the changes, just know that the worst is yet to come. This time next year, the Australian Government will add GST to all online purchases under $1000—AKA basically all your online shopping.Follow Kat on Twitter
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