‘Fortnite’ maker Epic Games to contest Apple’s ‘27% tax’ on outside payments

The company plans to let all third-party apps sold in the US include an outside link to a developer website to process payments for in-app purchases. That will bypass Apple’s own payment system, which charges developers a commission of either 15% or 30%. Still, the iPhone maker said it would attempt to collect a 12% or 27% revenue share from developers that opt out of the Apple system.

The Supreme Court decision let stand a 2023 appeals court ruling that found Apple’s business model didn’t violate antitrust laws, but that it did flout California’s Unfair Competition Law by limiting the developers ability to communicate about alternate payment systems that may cost less. 

Both Apple and Fortnite maker Epic Games Inc. had asked the court to hear an appeal related to the case. The justices turned down the appeals without explanation.

Apple shares slid as much as 2.7% after the court’s announcement before paring their decline. The stock was down 1.2% to $183.63 at the close in New York. 

Developers will need to apply for an “entitlement” to be able to use outside payments systems. Apple previously allowed reader apps — a category that includes video streaming and book reading applications — to point users to the web to sign up for subscriptions. Apple will warn customers when they press a link to conduct purchases outside the App Store before letting them proceed.

“As of today, developers can begin exercising their court-established right to tell US customers about better prices on the web,” Epic Chief Executive Officer Tim Sweeney said in a thread on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter.

But he took issue with Apple’s plan to charge what he called a “27% tax” on web transactions. If app developers have to pay…