It Happened: Netflix Just Increased Its Monthly Fee

The "Netflix tax" will come into effect this Saturday, but it looks like we've already been stung with a fee hike from our streaming overlords, Netflix.

The price increase affects all new subscribers from today and will hit up current subscribers 30 days from now. (They will be notified by email.)

A spokesperson for Netflix explained that the company hadn't increased their fees since August 2015, when they launched the service in Australia.

"In light of the upcoming GST (Goods and Services Tax) increase, we will be rolling out updated plans and pricing starting June 28 in Australia," the spokesperson said.

Last week, we predicted that each plan would increase by at least 10 per cent due to the extension of the GST to digital services, but the fees appear to have been rounded up for good measure.

This means the $8.99 a month basic package will now cost $9.99 (an increase of 11.1 per cent), your two-screen package of $11.99 per month is now $13.99 (16.7 per cent increase) and the 4K four-screen plan is now $17.99 from $14.99 (20 per cent increase).

To soften the blow, Netflix has announced new seasons of Fargo and Animal Kingdom will be out next month, as well as a new original series about Dracula called Castlevania.

Sigh. It'll have to do...

Photo: iStock