Dundee West MSP Joe FitzPatrick has issued a fresh call for tax breaks to be introduced to help the city’s video games industry after the Irish Government announced it is considering implementing them.
Irish culture minister Jimmy Deenihan has said he will recommend to the Irish department of finance that tax relief applied to the film and television industries in Ireland should be extended to include games development.
Mr FitzPatrick said, “This announcement puts extra pressure on the UK Government to introduce it. The trade association representing the UK computer games industry, TIGA, has rightly drawn attention to the news that the Irish are now considering introducing such a tax break.
“We have been campaigning for tax breaks for the UK industry in line with the arrangements already given to the film industry for years and although the UK Government’s secretary of state for culture, media and sport Jeremy Hunt said in March that games tax relief in the UK is ‘constantly under review’ this seems as far off as ever.
“Figures from trade body TIGA show that tax relief for research and development could create and safeguard 3366 development jobs and £431 million of investment in the UK computer games industry.”
Mr FitzPatrick who has been at the forefront of the campaign to introduce tax relief for the games industry added, “Any tax relief granted would be extremely small in comparison to the return on the investment and would be a big step in the recovery of our economy. If the UK Government will not act then Scotland should have the power to do so.
“Tax relief for computer games development would put the Scottish industry on a level playing field with competitor countries around the world including the United States of America, Canada and South Korea, who all offer major tax breaks at either national or regional level for game production or other substantial government financial support.
“The games industry employs up to 3000 in Dundee and the Scottish Government and its agencies are working hard to support the sector. It is time for the coalition to do its bit or transfer the taxation powers needed so we can back up one of Scotland’s key growth industries.”
Photo used under Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user wodi.