SME News March 2017

12 SME NEWS / March 2017 , TIGA, the network for games developers and digital publishers and the trade association representing the games industry, urged UK games developers to examine whether they can claim tax Credits and not look a gift horse in the mouth. Don’t Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth TIGA research shows that R&D tax credits and games tax relief can be important sources of finance for UK developers. TIGA urged all UK developers to explore whether they too can benefit from these reliefs. The research is based on a survey of 52 UK games development companies. The respondents represent a wide selection of different company types, sizes, ages, and market and platform focuses, roughly proportionate to the overall UK industry. Key findings from the survey include the following: • 75% of respondents successfully claimed R&D tax relief over the previous 12 months; • Of the 75% of respondents who successfully claimed back R&D tax relief in the previous 12 months, the average percentage of total costs claimed back was 22%; • 25% of respondents still do not claim for R&D tax credits, most of whom (69%) are small and micro companies; • 62% of developers submitted a games tax relief claim in the last 12 months and; • 81% of respondents indicated that they intend to submit at least one project for games tax relief in 2017, and it is likely that some intend to submit more than one. Dr Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO, said: “The principal challenge holding back games developers is difficulty in raising finance. Developers can make life easier by using relevant tax reliefs: principally video games tax relief and R&D tax credits. Our research shows that studios successfully claiming R&D tax credits are on average claiming back over a fifth of their total costs. Likewise, games tax relief allows studios to claim 25% of qualifying games production expenditure as a corporation tax credit with no minimum or maximum expenditure. These reliefs effectively reduce the cost of development and allow studios to invest more in studios, staff and games.” tiga.org