For full report please see The Guardian newspaper:
- George Osborne unveiled a film industry-style tax break to encourage development in the animation and video game sectors in his budget speech.
- Animation is a £300m-a-year industry that employs 4,700 people directly.
- Details of the new tax break remain sketchy, with Osborne only announcing an intention to proceed, subject to obtaining state-aid approval from the European commission and a consultation.
- But the tax breaks are expected to operate on similar lines to film, in which projects filmed in the UK qualify for a 20% or 25% break depending on the production budget.
- The video games industry employs about 9,000 people in the UK, working in 300 studios.
- Games industry trade body UKIE (UK Interactive Entertainment) said that a games tax relief would create an estimated 4,700 direct and indirect jobs, and generate £188m in investment by studios.
- The Department of Culture, Media and Sport said the break would create and protect 1,650 studio jobs and contribute £280m to GDP.
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