Tax Breaks Hope as Ed Vaizey Becomes Government Minister

The Conservative Party's "spokesperson for the games industry," Ed Vaizey, has been appointed Culture Minister in the country's new coalition government. He will be working for Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, with a focus on the arts and entertainment industries.

His role is certainly good news for the promise of game industry tax breaks - the MP has stated on many occasions that such support would end up in the "first budget" of a Conservative government (which is, for the most part, what we have now).

Unfortunately, since an ELSPA Question Time event where Vaizey announced the commitment, the political party has been coy on exactly what plans it has for the UK industry, even failing to include a mention of tax reform in the Conservative pre-election mini-budget despite assurances of the contrary.

The UK trade body is pleased at the appointment in any case, with ELSPA director general Michael Rawlinson saying Vaizey "has proven himself to be one of the few politicians with a true grasp as to the importance of the video games industry and its cultural impact.

"Due to several meetings held with the new Minister in the run up to the election Ed is well aware of the issues we face. We therefore welcome the opportunity of working with him and his team in addressing these issues and in turn supporting both the video games industry and UK plc."

Let's hope we see some sort of tax break detail in the upcoming Budget, then.

Source: Develop