Deemed supplier

Also called marketplace facilitator, platform liability, deemed reseller

A tax rule that treats a platform or intermediary taking part in a digital sale as the seller for VAT or sales tax, so it collects and pays the tax in place of the studio.

App stores handle VAT on in-app purchases as the seller, and deemed-supplier rules are part of the reason. In the EU, Article 9a of Implementing Regulation 282/2011 presumes that a platform taking part in an electronically supplied service acts in its own name. The EU Court of Justice upheld the rule in Fenix in February 2023. The UK reaches the same result through section 47(4) of the VAT Act 1994. India, Japan (from 1 April 2025, for platforms above ¥5bn), Brazil and US state marketplace-facilitator laws have their own versions.

For a studio, the rule explains why the tax bill moves when you leave the app store. A merchant of record is the seller in its own right and handles the tax. A payment service provider is carved out, because Article 9a does not apply to a business that “only provides for processing of payments”. Sell through a PSP and the studio is the supplier, with the registrations that come with it.

Some obligations stay with the seller anyway. Washington’s facilitator law still expects the seller to file business and occupation tax on its gross receipts. See tax.