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Australia approves video games tax relief

Australia approves video games tax relief

Tax breaks for the video games have been approved in Australia.

The news was shared by the country's industry trade body IGEA, which said that the Digital Games Tax Offset (DGTO) has been given the nod by both Houses of the Australian Parliament.

The DGTO gives a 30 per cent tax incentive for developers with projects that had a budget of over AU$500,000.

“Today is a momentous occasion for Australian games creators, who have an extraordinary reputation internationally," IGEA CEO Ron Curry said.

"These developers can now confidently proceed, expand and scale their businesses to deliver in-demand game content to a global audience and are well-positioned to drive the knowledge economy.

“Recognition and support for our sector has been a long time coming and we cannot express how grateful we are to the Albanese Labor government for pushing the DGTO legislation through, to the Opposition for their bipartisan support for a policy proposal that had its genesis under the previous government, and to the Senate for passing it today.

“We are grateful for all the champions on both sides of the Parliament who have led the way for game development becoming an integral part of the broader Australian screen and creative industries, including the Senators who spoke in support of the DGTO yesterday.

“Making games has the ability to engage artists and technical specialists across the industry. We are excited for the career opportunities that growth in game development will bring to Australian creators.”


PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.