One year on, the UK video game tax breaks are finally approved

Nearly a year after tax breaks were meant to be established for video game companies in the UK, the European Commission has finally given the initiative the go-ahead, stating that the relief is "in line with EU state aid rules." Tax breaks for the UK video game industry were meant to begin back in April 2013, but were put on hold after the EU Commission said that it was investigating whether this relief program was actually worth going through with. Now the Commission says that it "has found in particular that the measure provides incentives to developers to produce games meeting certain cultural criteria, in line with EU objectives." "The video games tax relief will provide an incentive to video game developers to produce games meeting certain cultural criteria," the organization stated in a press release. It added that the proposed cultural test "ensures that the aid supports only games that are of cultural value." It's notable that only around 25 percent of UK produced games will actually be eligible for this tax relief. The various UK video game trade body have voiced their delight at the news. TIGA's Richard Wilson called the move "a superb decision by the EU Commission and magnificent news for the UK video games industry," while Ian Livingstone CBE, Ukie vice chairmain for Ukie, noted, "This is a great boost for the UK games industry, and excellent news for jobs and growth." Ukie in particular has produced a quick PDF guide about the tax breaks, for those UK developers who are hoping to make use of the relief.