Tiga backs tax breaks for Scotland

Tiga has today backed a new report that recommends a game development tax break for Scottish studios.

The Scottish Enterprise-funded report, entitled Digital Inspiration, calls for greater recognition of Scotland’s digital media sector, better engagement with the industry, and greater national ambition for the sector.

Tiga CEO Richard Wilson said that the UK government had “failed dismally” to back Britain’s development sector, following Alistair Darling’s pre-Budget Report which said that the Government “is not currently persuaded that the evidence is sufficiently compelling” to justify tax breaks.

The announcement was widely condemned by the industry. Yet there remains a chance that tax breaks could still be independently introduced in Scotland, though this would nevertheless require approval in UK parliament.

The Digital Inspiration report asks that the Scottish Government launch a tax subsidy policy under the terms of a trial basis.

“Now that HM Treasury has failed dismally to back the Scottish and indeed, the wider UK games industry with a Games Tax Relief in the pre-Budget Report, it is even more important that the Scottish Parliament and Government take action to address this deficiency,” Wilson said.

“Tiga will continue to campaign vigorously for a UK-wide tax relief,” he added.

Early in October the Secretary of State for Scotland Jim Murphy pledged to support the Scottish videogame sector, just days after Dundee-based Realtime Worlds suggested it would leave Britain unless tax relief is introduced.

“We have had a discussion about tax breaks and ways to support the industry,” he said at the time.

Develop will have more on this issue shortly.