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Tiga CEO Richard Wilson has told Develop he is confident that the EU will ratify proposals from the UK government for wide-ranging tax relief for the game industry.
Wilson’s comments come after Take-Two SVP Seb Belcher and Ukie chairman Andy Payne suggested there could still be hurdles to overcome before tax relief proposals can officially be passed into legislation.
Although still optimistic on the matter, Belcher cautioned that the European Union could block the campaign if it deemed areas of the cultural test were not sufficient enough.
Despite this, Wilson said EU officials had been kept abreast of the situation for a long time, and that judging by the strength of the government’s proposals and the fact that France already has a similar scheme, the UK’s tax relief proposals would likely go through.
“The UK Government has been keeping officials in Brussels informed about our Games Tax Relief plans for a very long time; EU officials are not about to be taken by surprise by this vital tax measure,” he said.
“Tiga has also provided valuable evidence to the Government about the case for a cultural tax break for British video games which should help to convince EU policy makers of the necessity for Games Tax Relief. The European Games Development Federation has also supported Games Tax Relief.
"Nothing can be taken for granted, but the strength of our proposals, the evidence that we have gathered and the fact that France already has a tax break for video games production means that Tiga remains confident that Games Tax Relief will be implemented.”
Consultation with the government on UK games tax relief will conclude on February 6th, with details of the current proposals still subject to change.
Once ratified, the scheme is expected to be open to game developers of all sizes from April 1st.
