UK Budget: No Games Tax Relief Included

Another UK budget has been approved, yet it disappointingly lacks tax cuts for video game development.

The campaign advocating for tax relief similar to that in the film and TV industries has been ongoing for several years. There was an anticipation that this budget would finally embrace it. Regrettably, that didn’t happen.

“The continuous postponement of the UK games tax relief scheme has been extremely exasperating for UK developers,” UKIE boss Jo Twist informed GamesIndustry International.

A minor provision has been incorporated for video games and high-end television development. However, this still requires the approval of the European Commission.

Some advancement was achieved last year with the establishment of a points-based test to determine the eligibility for the scheme, but unfortunately, it wasn’t approved by the European Commission.

“Although there wasn’t any announcement regarding the European Commission’s decision in this year’s budget, we remain firmly confident that our case is robust and that we will soon receive a response from the EC,” Twist concluded.