Today, 18 August 2022, HM Revenue and Customs published their Official Statistics on the Creative industries for 2022.
Statistics are provided on the number of productions claiming tax relief, the amounts of expenditure, the number of tax relief claims and amounts claimed, and the number of claims by the size of the claim. The data provides information on the creative industries’ tax reliefs for film, high-end television, animation, video games, children’s television, theatre, orchestra, and museums and galleries exhibitions.
Key findings include that in the year ending March 2022, a total of £1.05 billion was paid out across all the creative industries’ tax reliefs. £197 million of Video Games Tax Relief (VGTR) was paid in response to 330 claims, representing 580 games. The amount of relief increased by 4% compared with the previous year.
In the year ending March 2022, the majority of claims tend to be for smaller amounts, with 49% of all claims being for £50,000 or less; these claims are only responsible for 1% of the total amount paid out. Claims over £500,000 account for 88% of the total amount paid out. This proportion is similar to the previous year.
Since VGTR was introduced in 2014, companies have made claims for 1,940 games, with UK expenditure of £5.1 billion. A total of £830 million has also been paid since VGTR was introduced.
Research published by TIGA shows that since 2014, headcount in the UK video games development sector has increased at an annual average rate of 9.9 per cent. According to Newzoo’s Global Games Market Report 2021 the global video games market is predicted to be worth £178.7 billion by 2024.
The statistics can be read in full here.
Dr Richard Wilson OBE, TIGA CEO, said:
“Video Games Tax Relief is driving investment and high skilled employment in the UK video games industry. The Government should aim to increase the rate of Video Games Tax Relief from 25% to 32%. This would help the UK win a larger share of the global market for video games development and create nearly 1,500 additional skilled development jobs and over 2,700 additional indirect staff by 2025.”