4% increase in VGTR claims with over £197m paid out

HMRC has published its latest statistics around VGTR, showing that over £197 million was paid out in tax relief to video games businesses for the year to 31^st March 2022. This is up 4% from the twelve months previously.

Thanks to the generosity of the Video Games Tax Relief (VGTR) scheme, claims are rocketing with over £830 million paid out since its launch in 2014. Forming part of a suite of eight creative tax reliefs, VGTR means that eligible companies can claim a deduction against their taxable profits, or surrender the tax relief for a cash credit. The idea behind the scheme is to encourage UK games companies to invest in video games development, helping to keep the UK competitive in this field on a global stage. Indeed, since the introduction of VGTR, the scheme has helped to bring highly skilled employment to an export focused industry, where 80% of the workforce is based outside of London.

Chris Dowsett, Business Analyst at Myriad Associates, said: “Video Games Tax Relief is one of the most generous reliefs around, boosting creativity, innovation and employment. Any video games development company of any size can be eligible as long as they’re UK based.

“The real beauty of VGTR is that you can either claim for the tax relief at the end of your project, or part way through. In these strained financial times, this can mean a cash injection right when it’s needed, making a huge difference particularly for smaller developers. There’s also a wider range of costs available to claim, e.g rent and office costs that aren’t claimable under R&D Tax Credits, which is why, when applicable, it’s often worth claiming both.

At Myriad, we deal with some of the UK's biggest, most well-established games studios and are responsible for just over 10% of all final certificates issued. Even if you think your company isn’t eligible, this may actually not be the case so we recommend speaking to our team.”

If you would like to find out more about VGTR, R&D Tax Credits or any other innovation funding incentives, feel free to contact us for an informal discussion.