Asked by: Jack Brereton (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the contribution of Video Games Tax Relief to (a) jobs, (b) investment and (c) productivity in the UK video games sector; and what plans he has to increase video games tax relief from 25 per cent to 32 per cent in April 2023.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government recognises the valuable economic and cultural contribution of the video games industry. The Video Games Tax Relief (VGTR) has supported £5.1 billion of UK expenditure on 1,940 games since its introduction in 2014.
The Government keeps all tax reliefs under review. Any externally commissioned evaluation will be published in the usual way, in line with the Government Social Research Publication Protocol.
The Government regularly receives proposals for changes to tax reliefs. When considering changes, the Government must ensure they provide support to businesses in a fair way and that taxpayer money is effectively targeted. An uplift in the rate of VGTR is not currently under consideration.