Richard Wilson, CEO of Tiga (the UK's developer association) has expressed his ire at the lack of tax relief in today's emergency budget.
"The Coalition Government has broken pre-election pledges made by the Conservative Party and by the Liberal Democrats to support and introduce Games Tax Relief", he announced.
“Unless the Coalition Government introduces Games Tax Relief or a similar fiscal measure then the UK will forfeit millions of pounds in inward investment, jobs will be lost and we will cease to be a leading developer of video games. The UK video games industry is export oriented, high tech, highly skilled and low carbon in output. This is an industry of the future which the Government should be supporting with action, not words," he continued.
Wilson was joined in his anger by ELSPA director general Michael Rawlinson, who commented, "Bearing in mind the pre election commitment towards tax breaks made by the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats we are extremely disappointed by the outcome of today’s Budget. Our industry will be rightly puzzled as to how tax breaks can be lauded before an election, only to be seen as ‘poorly targeted’ and scrapped just six weeks later.
"We understand that this decision has been made in the context of the current economic climate. Yet the Chancellor today spoke of the need for a more balanced economy. If this is to be attained the government must acknowledge that the creative industries are of vital importance. Therefore in the absence of tax breaks it is the essential that the government work with our industry to ensure that the policies which we have outlined - such as addressing the skills gap and better access to R&D initiatives - are implemented."
Expect to see developers shipping themselves, their talent and the fiscal input both bring to the country, abroad by.... about 5pm today.
"The Coalition Government has broken pre-election pledges made by the Conservative Party and by the Liberal Democrats to support and introduce Games Tax Relief", he announced.
“Unless the Coalition Government introduces Games Tax Relief or a similar fiscal measure then the UK will forfeit millions of pounds in inward investment, jobs will be lost and we will cease to be a leading developer of video games. The UK video games industry is export oriented, high tech, highly skilled and low carbon in output. This is an industry of the future which the Government should be supporting with action, not words," he continued.
Wilson was joined in his anger by ELSPA director general Michael Rawlinson, who commented, "Bearing in mind the pre election commitment towards tax breaks made by the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats we are extremely disappointed by the outcome of today’s Budget. Our industry will be rightly puzzled as to how tax breaks can be lauded before an election, only to be seen as ‘poorly targeted’ and scrapped just six weeks later.
"We understand that this decision has been made in the context of the current economic climate. Yet the Chancellor today spoke of the need for a more balanced economy. If this is to be attained the government must acknowledge that the creative industries are of vital importance. Therefore in the absence of tax breaks it is the essential that the government work with our industry to ensure that the policies which we have outlined - such as addressing the skills gap and better access to R&D initiatives - are implemented."
Expect to see developers shipping themselves, their talent and the fiscal input both bring to the country, abroad by.... about 5pm today.
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Comments
Mighty max 23 Jun 2010 21:00
1/1
Well, typical. Businesses getting their knickers in a twist. Considering this goverment is planning on withdrawing a whole lot of support for disabled people in this country, amongst the poorest and underprivileged people in the UK, why would they care about the games industry. All they want is as much as they can get from people, and for them to pay their way on everything, and also getting a piece of the action.