Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much Video Games Tax Relief was paid out to companies with production values above £15 million in each year between 2020 and 2023.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC publishes statistics on the cost of video games tax relief here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/creative-industries-statistics-august-2023
A breakdown of claims by production budgets is not available. However, within the National Statistics (Video Games – Table 4.2) there is a breakdown by the size of the claim.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much Video Games Tax Relief was paid out to companies with production values below £15 million in each year between 2020 and 2023.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC publishes statistics on the cost of video games tax relief here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/creative-industries-statistics-august-2023
A breakdown of claims by production budgets is not available. However, within the National Statistics (Video Games – Table 4.2) there is a breakdown by the size of the claim.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact of Video Games Tax Relief on inward investment into the UK video games industry.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC commissioned an independent evaluation of Video Games Tax Relief (VGTR) which included an assessment of the impact on inward investment. The findings can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/video-game-tax-relief-evaluation.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many games studios have benefited from Video Games Tax Relief since its introduction.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC publishes information on the number of companies that claim Video Games Tax Relief on an annual basis. The latest figures include data up to the 2021-2022 tax year.
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/creative-industries-statistics-august-2023.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme on investment in early-stage British-owned businesses.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Autumn Statement 2023, the Government published the report of an independent evaluation of the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS), conducted in 2022. The evaluation explored the impact of the SEIS in meeting its policy objectives and found evidence that it was appropriately designed to mobilise additional investment in start-ups and early-stage companies from private investors, providing those businesses with valuable funding for business development and innovation that would otherwise be difficult to find from other sources. The full report can be found here: Evaluation of Venture Capital Schemes - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact on Ireland's competitiveness of its higher rate of video games tax relief at 32 per cent; and whether he has plans to accept the recommendation of The Independent Game Developers’ Association to increase the rate of video games tax relief in the UK.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government recognises the valuable economic and cultural contribution of the video games industry. The Video Games Tax Relief (VGTR) has supported £4.4 billion of UK expenditure on 1,640 games since its introduction in 2014.
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. However, the Government keeps all tax reliefs under review.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps HMRC has taken to ensure that the Check Employment Status for Tax tool accurately interprets case law for the purpose of deciding employment status.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The check employment status for tax (CEST) digital service was rigorously tested throughout development, with input from external stakeholders, in accordance with government data standards prior to release.
Results have been tested by HMRC against known case law and settled cases.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much and what proportion of foreign direct investment in the UK in 2017 came from (a) acquisitions, mergers and joint-ventures, (b) new investments and (c) expansions of existing investments.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Data on the proportions of foreign direct investment (FDI) by acquisitions, mergers and joint-ventures, new investments and expansions of existing investments in 2017, is not yet available. The annual release containing this information will be published in December 2018.
The stock of foreign direct investment in the UK increased to £1.6 trillion in 2017, a further 0.7% increase in addition to the record high FDI inflows in 2016.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many firms claimed video games tax relief in each year since its introduction.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
HMRC publishes reports on the number of claims for video games tax relief. Information for the period 2014-15 to 2016-17 can be found in Table 4.1 here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/creative-industries-statistics-july-2017
Companies have a period of one year to submit returns after the end of the accounting period and another year to amend or withdraw a claim. Therefore, the data for 2016-17 remains provisional and subject to change due to claims not yet received.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of video games tax relief on (a) employment and b) investment in the video games sector.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The creative sector tax reliefs provide support to ensure that these highly skilled and innovative industries thrive in the UK.
Since its introduction in 2014 the Video Games Tax Relief has supported almost £700 million of UK expenditure in the industry.
Although the government does not collect statistics on employment in the video games sector specifically, video games industry body TIGA estimate that in 2016 there were 33,637 employed in the games industry or in jobs indirectly supported by studios, compared to 30,741 in 2014.