TIGA condemns video games tax relief U-turn in Budget
The UK’s video games trade association has condemned the Coalition Government after it chose to scrap plans to introduce tax relief plans for video games developers in today’s Emergency budget.
The plans were to be implemented following the previous budget by Chancellor Alistair Darling earlier this year, but following Labour’s loss in the general election, Chancellor George Osborne in his first budget has announced he will not implement the scheme which would have aimed to make the UK the best place to work in the sector.
Dr Richard Wilson, CEO of TIGA now claims that the Government has reneged on one of its pre-election pledges to support the Games Tax Relief.
Wilson yesterday handed a petition into 10 Downing Street, signed by 37 senior figures within the industry, in favour of the tax relief.
Dr Richard Wilson, said “The Coalition Government has broken pre-election pledges made by the Conservative Party and by the Liberal Democrats to support and introduce Games Tax Relief.
“Unless the Coalition Government introduces Games Tax Relief or a similar fiscal measure then the UK will forfeit millions of pounds in inward investment, jobs will be lost and we will cease to be a leading developer of video games. The UK video games industry is export oriented, high tech, highly skilled and low carbon in output. This is an industry of the future which the Government should be supporting with action, not words.”
He continued by welcoming the reduction being made in corporation tax, but added that it did not address the needs of the video games sector.
“Nevertheless, the strength of our arguments, our implacable resolve and our unrelenting focus has ensured that in the run up today’s Emergency Budget, Games Tax Relief has received serious consideration at the highest levels of Government. Additionally, TIGA has created a broad coalition in favour of Games Tax Relief: the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, the Labour Party and the Scottish National Party have all previously expressed their support for Games Tax Relief. Unfortunately, the state of the public finances has prevented the introduction of Games Tax Relief. TIGA will continue to refine the case for Games Tax Relief, or a similar fiscal measure. We will work with developers and publishers to deliver this critical policy measure. We will not give up. We will also continue to campaign for a range of additional measures to ensure that the UK is the best place in the world in which to do games business,” he concluded.