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EU Approves French Tax Breaks For Computer Game Developers,
by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels
Thursday, December 13, 2007
The European Commission has authorised, under the EC Treaty rules on state
aid, a French tax credit aimed at encouraging video game creation.
This tax credit will be granted only to video games that meet the criteria
of quality, originality, and contributing to cultural diversity.
After an in-depth investigation that began in 2006, the Commission has concluded
that this measure qualifies for the exemption provided for by the EC Treaty
for aid to promote culture.
Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes stated: “The French authorities
have made significant changes to the scheme so as to essentially target video
games with cultural content and minimise possible distortions of competition
in the European market.”
The aim of the aid scheme is to enable video game manufacturers which are subject
to taxation in France to deduct up to 20% of the production costs of certain
games. Only video games that meet certain criteria will be eligible. This scheme
has been authorised for a period of 4 years.
This aid was notified under a section of the EC Treaty, which authorises aid
to promote culture provided that it does not adversely affect trading conditions
and competition.
The Commission opened an in-depth investigation into this measure, in order to
ensure that it would not act as an industrial policy instrument in favour of
the video game sector. Another purpose of the investigation was to assess the impact of the
aid on competition and on other European video game companies.
As a result of this investigation, the French authorities were asked to redefine
and clarify the selection criteria. The Commission believes that the new, more
detailed selection test makes it possible to ensure that only video games with
cultural content may benefit from the aid.
Given the small market shares of the manufacturers covered by
the measure, the Commission said that it is satisfied that the aid will have
a limited effect on competition and on trade between the member states. This
effect will be even more limited by the fact that the French authorities have
accepted the Commission’s request to largely include subcontracting costs
within the eligible costs. These costs had initially been excluded, thus creating
the risk that beneficiary companies would be encouraged to internalise their
costs, to the detriment of European subcontractors.
The EU's state aid rules are in place to prevent member states from favouring
certain companies and industries with beneficial tax rules and subsidies, thus distorting competition within the single market.
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