UK Games Association Hoping New Culture Minister Will Implement Tax Relief

You might have heard that here in the UK we’ve got a brand new (as much as hundreds of coffin dodgers can be considered “new”) government. With this government comes a new Minister for Culture, Ed Vaizey (above)- who TIGA, the trade association representing the UK games industry, hope will implement plans for tax relief for game developers in the UK.

The other creative industries have had tax breaks for a while now, so TIGA are pressing hard to make the UK a much more viable place to develop games. The UK game industry is a large industry, and video games have undeniably become a huge part of life here. According to Ofcom, our media regulator “93 per cent of households with children in Scotland own a games console.”

The study by Ofcom produced some other interesting results, as well. “73 per cent of adults in the UK used the internet at home or elsewhere in 2009, compared to 63 per cent in 2007… 84 per cent of parents surveyed in Scotland by Ofcom said that they trusted their children to use the internet safely and 71 per cent think that benefits of the internet for their children outweigh the risks.”

Impressive stats, and it shows that not only are we become a more progressive society, most of us have accepted the warm embrace of video games. It only stands to reason now that the new Culture Minister will allow games developers to benefit from our tax system as much as the other creative industries.

Jason Kingsley, TIGA’s Chairman, explains: “It is good to have a Culture Minister who supports tax breaks for the UK video games industry. TIGA’s research shows that Games Tax Relief over a five year period would create or protect 3,550 graduate level jobs and increase or safeguard £457 million in development expenditure. Games Tax Relief will generate high skilled jobs, encourage investment and strengthen an export oriented industry.”