Video Games Tax Relief (VGTR), which enables game developers to claim back up to 20% of certain production costs, was introduced in 2014 after years of lobbying by the industry. Scores of games that have few, if any, apparent British cultural references have been awarded large rebates. Claims for more than £500,000 have taken at least 80% of the total tax relief, despite accounting for only a small fraction of claims. In an effort to increase transparency, it passed regulations in 2016 requiring all tax relief of more than €500,000 to be published on a state aid website. To qualify, games can score points on whether they include British or European cultural references.

Source: The Guardian October 02, 2019 06:56 UTC