Tax credit group ‘has saved UK devs £226k’

British games tax specialists Jumpstart has saved UK studios more than £226,000 in R&D tax credits, the company has claimed.

Jumpstart’s service, promoted by trade group UKIE, is also hoped will save British studios as much as £1 million.

It is not known how quickly Jumpstart reached the £226,000 milestone. The group publicly announced its partnership with UKIE in May this year.

“I am delighted that this initiative has created tangible benefit so quickly,” said UKIE chairman Andy Payne, also director of publishing group Mastertronic.

“Jumpstart worked closely with Mastertronic and submitted a cast-iron claim which has maximised our R&D tax break revenue,” he added.

“I personally recommend that all UKIE members make use of the excellent service that Jumpstart provides.”

Edinburgh-based Jumpstart says it has enough legal claims in the pipeline to surpass £1 million in tax credit savings.

The firm applies for R&D tax credits on behalf of game studios, and says it has a 98.6 per cent success rate on all claims made since forming in 2008.

The group does not take on R&D claims for its clients if it thinks the chances are weak.

UK studio heads have previously told Develop the R&D tax credit system is prohibitively complex and ambiguous, and have been discouraged by the protracted nature of making and revising claims.

Jumpstart says it can do the heavy lifting for studios, and offers a “no-win no-fee” basis.

It takes a cut of the tax credits that studios receive, though UKIE members will get this at “an exclusive preferential rate”.

UKIE members are also promised “free advice about how R&D tax credits can benefit their businesses through an exclusive help-line address”.

Jumpstart said it employs over thirty people “with the scientific and technical knowledge to identify and justify eligible projects for R&D submission”.

In the 2011 Budget, the Treasury announced it was increasing the tax credit rate to 200 per cent.