Legal Niches

Summarizing U.K.'s Tax Breaks

By John Keefer

The surprise announcement that tax breaks are forthcoming for UK game developers has prompted a flurry of stories and reactions.

Gamesindustry.biz has a good summary of the reactions, which have ranged from surprise to outright relief. A key point, however:

... it's worth noting that all of this is in the context of a looming General Election, after which the present government may be unseated and a large proportion of what was announced could be discarded. Conservative shadow minister Ed Vaizey seems positive on his party's support for the games industry, but has made no promises should the government in the UK change. Meanwhile current polls suggest a hung Parliament could be the most likely outcome of the voting process, and if that happens then nothing is clear.

It's an interesting wrapup of the situation. Would it be a stretch to say the UK speech was a political ploy to stay elected?

Full post as published by GamePolitics.com on March 25, 2010 (boomark / email).