Chancellor Launches Games Industry Tax Relief and Celebrates £140M Success Of TV Credit One Year On
Games industry looks to mirror success of TV sector
Outlander filming in Scotland, 24: Live Another Day shooting in London, Manchester made From There to Here, Lucan and Breathless all benefit from TV Tax relief bringing jobs and investment to the nations and regions of the UK; Games industry looks to mirror success of TV sector
London – Friday 4th April 2014: The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt Hon George Osborne MP, today officially launched a major tax incentive to encourage greater investment in the UK games industry and celebrated the success of the high-end television tax relief which has already contributed an additional £140 million to the UK economy, at an event in Central London.
The event was hosted by games industry body Ukie and the TV Coalition, representing companies from across the UK TV sector, at BAFTA and follows the recent European Commission approval of the games industry tax relief.
The economic and cultural impact of the high-end television relief to date was revealed in detail at the event. To date, there have been 38 applications for the TV tax relief. Five productions have received final certification and spent £13m in the UK. A further 22 have interim certification with a projected total UK spend of £130m. The games industry is hoping to replicate this success, Ian Livingstone CBE told the audience, and continuing to improving the skills pipeline will be crucial if this is to happen.
Ukie CEO Dr Jo Twist added: “The introduction of a tax relief for games will help our sector get back to the top of the global games leader board with world class made-in-the UK games. Many people have put in years of hard work to present the most robust, evidence-based case possible to not only the UK government, but also to the European Commission. To have the chance to celebrate this moment with a supportive Chancellor, and colleagues from the games industry, is fantastic. I’d like to thank the hundreds of games companies, organisations, individuals across the country, as well as the government and civil servants who worked so hard to get us here.
“Our job now is to ensure companies of all sizes benefit and that we have a healthy and diverse flow of talented people to transform our innovative, creative sector into an economic powerhouse.”
TV Coalition Chair and Chief Executive of Pact, John McVay commented: “One year on from the introduction of the high end TV tax relief, almost 40 productions have applied for this credit, rather than going abroad or not making their shows at all. This tax relief has supported the growth of the television industry, boosted our competitiveness and brought new employment and training opportunities to across the UK. It is clear that the tax relief has already provided a significant boost to the sector and we look forward to continued success both for the sector and UK GDP in the years ahead.”
Adrian Wootton, Chief Executive of the British Film Commission and Film London said: “Government support for the UK’s creative industries has ensured we can compete globally and has allowed the UK to become a world leader in this field. The British Film Commission and our partners recognise and applaud this ongoing commitment and we are delighted to see how it has translated into investment, job creation and securing our international reputation. The high-end television tax relief has allowed the BFC to promote the UK’s excellent talent, crew and facilities to a new international client-base, as well as creating exciting opportunities for our domestic industry and the Animation Tax Relief is also making an impact on the UK’s innovative and award-winning animation sector. We look forward to working with the wider creative industries to secure similar results for the games industry.”
Notes
Tax reliefs for games, high-end TV and animation were announced by Chancellor George Osborne in the 2012 Budget. The High-end TV and animation reliefs were introduced in April 2013 and have already had a major positive impact.
• Games tax relief has recently received state aid approval from the European Commission.
• Games companies will be able to claim for qualifying expenditure from 1 April 2014
-ENDS –
Contacts
For all press enquiries, please contact the Ukie press office on T: +44 (0)20 7534 0580 or E: press@ukie.org.uk
About Ukie
The Association for United Kingdom Interactive Entertainment or Ukie (pronounced YOU-KEY) is a trade body that aims to support, grow and promote the whole of the UK’s games and interactive entertainment industry. Founded in 2010 (although formerly known as ELSPA), Ukie’s membership includes all the major UK and global games publishers and the best of UK development talent - from promising start-ups to some of the biggest, most successful studios operating in the UK today.
We also have distributors, academic institutions, new publishers, and media outlets that are integral to the lifeblood of the industry as part of the family.
Ukie works with government to champion a range of issues including age ratings, education and skills, access to finance and protecting intellectual property rights. It also works with the media to ensure true and accurate representation of the sector by raising awareness of the industry’s positive economic contribution and the societal benefits of gaming to policy makers, regulators and consumers.
One of Ukie’s key roles is to support its members by providing them with key market information, promoting careers and offering the business support services, training and best-practice knowledge to enable them to operate most effectively.
We also offer comprehensive events programme to give the games industry access to key information, leading industry figures and give everyone the chance to network. You can see our events programme [url=http://ukie.org.uk/events"http://ukie.org.uk/events]here[/url].
In addition, Ukie compiles weekly, monthly and annual retail charts and sales reports for the UK market.
Website: ukie.org.uk
Twitter: @uk_ie
Facebook: Ukie
Linked in: Ukie
About the TV Coalition
The TV Coalition campaigned for the introduction of the tax relief for high-end scripted television. It’s members include well-known UK based drama production companies such as Kudos, Left Bank, Carnival, Mammoth, Ecosse and Company Pictures, trade bodies such as the Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television (Pact), Directors UK, the Production Guild and UK Screen as well as inward investors like HBO, Showtime, RHI Entertainment and trade unions including Bectu.
London – Friday 4th April 2014: The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt Hon George Osborne MP, today officially launched a major tax incentive to encourage greater investment in the UK games industry and celebrated the success of the high-end television tax relief which has already contributed an additional £140 million to the UK economy, at an event in Central London.
The event was hosted by games industry body Ukie and the TV Coalition, representing companies from across the UK TV sector, at BAFTA and follows the recent European Commission approval of the games industry tax relief.
The economic and cultural impact of the high-end television relief to date was revealed in detail at the event. To date, there have been 38 applications for the TV tax relief. Five productions have received final certification and spent £13m in the UK. A further 22 have interim certification with a projected total UK spend of £130m. The games industry is hoping to replicate this success, Ian Livingstone CBE told the audience, and continuing to improving the skills pipeline will be crucial if this is to happen.
Ukie CEO Dr Jo Twist added: “The introduction of a tax relief for games will help our sector get back to the top of the global games leader board with world class made-in-the UK games. Many people have put in years of hard work to present the most robust, evidence-based case possible to not only the UK government, but also to the European Commission. To have the chance to celebrate this moment with a supportive Chancellor, and colleagues from the games industry, is fantastic. I’d like to thank the hundreds of games companies, organisations, individuals across the country, as well as the government and civil servants who worked so hard to get us here.
“Our job now is to ensure companies of all sizes benefit and that we have a healthy and diverse flow of talented people to transform our innovative, creative sector into an economic powerhouse.”
TV Coalition Chair and Chief Executive of Pact, John McVay commented: “One year on from the introduction of the high end TV tax relief, almost 40 productions have applied for this credit, rather than going abroad or not making their shows at all. This tax relief has supported the growth of the television industry, boosted our competitiveness and brought new employment and training opportunities to across the UK. It is clear that the tax relief has already provided a significant boost to the sector and we look forward to continued success both for the sector and UK GDP in the years ahead.”
Adrian Wootton, Chief Executive of the British Film Commission and Film London said: “Government support for the UK’s creative industries has ensured we can compete globally and has allowed the UK to become a world leader in this field. The British Film Commission and our partners recognise and applaud this ongoing commitment and we are delighted to see how it has translated into investment, job creation and securing our international reputation. The high-end television tax relief has allowed the BFC to promote the UK’s excellent talent, crew and facilities to a new international client-base, as well as creating exciting opportunities for our domestic industry and the Animation Tax Relief is also making an impact on the UK’s innovative and award-winning animation sector. We look forward to working with the wider creative industries to secure similar results for the games industry.”
Notes
Tax reliefs for games, high-end TV and animation were announced by Chancellor George Osborne in the 2012 Budget. The High-end TV and animation reliefs were introduced in April 2013 and have already had a major positive impact.
• Games tax relief has recently received state aid approval from the European Commission.
• Games companies will be able to claim for qualifying expenditure from 1 April 2014
-ENDS –
Contacts
For all press enquiries, please contact the Ukie press office on T: +44 (0)20 7534 0580 or E: press@ukie.org.uk
About Ukie
The Association for United Kingdom Interactive Entertainment or Ukie (pronounced YOU-KEY) is a trade body that aims to support, grow and promote the whole of the UK’s games and interactive entertainment industry. Founded in 2010 (although formerly known as ELSPA), Ukie’s membership includes all the major UK and global games publishers and the best of UK development talent - from promising start-ups to some of the biggest, most successful studios operating in the UK today.
We also have distributors, academic institutions, new publishers, and media outlets that are integral to the lifeblood of the industry as part of the family.
Ukie works with government to champion a range of issues including age ratings, education and skills, access to finance and protecting intellectual property rights. It also works with the media to ensure true and accurate representation of the sector by raising awareness of the industry’s positive economic contribution and the societal benefits of gaming to policy makers, regulators and consumers.
One of Ukie’s key roles is to support its members by providing them with key market information, promoting careers and offering the business support services, training and best-practice knowledge to enable them to operate most effectively.
We also offer comprehensive events programme to give the games industry access to key information, leading industry figures and give everyone the chance to network. You can see our events programme [url=http://ukie.org.uk/events"http://ukie.org.uk/events]here[/url].
In addition, Ukie compiles weekly, monthly and annual retail charts and sales reports for the UK market.
Website: ukie.org.uk
Twitter: @uk_ie
Facebook: Ukie
Linked in: Ukie
About the TV Coalition
The TV Coalition campaigned for the introduction of the tax relief for high-end scripted television. It’s members include well-known UK based drama production companies such as Kudos, Left Bank, Carnival, Mammoth, Ecosse and Company Pictures, trade bodies such as the Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television (Pact), Directors UK, the Production Guild and UK Screen as well as inward investors like HBO, Showtime, RHI Entertainment and trade unions including Bectu.