25% Tax Break for UK Game Developers

In the U.K. yesterday, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne delivered his Autumn Statement to Parliament, explaining the current economic status of the country and announcing plans for the future. Buried somewhere in all the talk of unemployment and national debt was the announcement that video games will be getting the 25% tax break proposed earlier this year. Here's the exact wording:

2.73 Corporation tax reliefs for the creative sector – The Government announced at Budget 2012 that, following consultation on design, it would introduce corporation tax reliefs for the video games, animation and high-end television industries from April 2013, subject to state aids approval. Under these reliefs, qualifying companies will be able to choose between an additional deduction at a rate of 100 per cent of enhanceable expenditure or a payable tax credit at a rate of 25 per cent of qualifying losses surrendered.

It's a lot of complicated language, but it basically means (I think) that game studios that follow certain rules in order to qualify as British (e.g. have a certain proportion of the work for each game done in Britain, by British workers) will be able to pay less tax than they would otherwise. Good news for them and hopefully – if it encourages more developers to do business in the country – good news for us.