Netflix but no chill? Online downloads, subscriptions from foreign sites to get 15 % tax

Thanks to the Central Board of Excise and Customs, you will be paying an additional 15 percent on downloads from foreign content providers. [caption id=“attachment_2612074” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Netflix[/caption] According to this Economic Times report, CBEC has made changes to the ‘Place of Provisions of Services Rules’ (PPSR) for ‘online information and database access or retrieval services’ through four separate but interlinked notifications dated November 9 which will impact your online services bill significantly. This means that you favourite ‘Netflix & Chill’ pastime will cost you more. The basic plan which costs Rs 500 might be hiked up to Rs 575, and so on. Even listening to your favourite artists on Itunes or buying The Cursed Child e-book on your Amazon Kindle will cost you more. It’s still undecided if these companies will adjust their price structures to accommodate the tax or will they let their consumers pay more.  The change will hit bills of subscription services, web hosting services, downloading of e-books, music, movies, and even online gaming, Times of India reports. On a brighter note, TVFplay, Hotstar, Gaana will not be affected by this move as they already include the service tax component in their subscription packages.