• Home
  • News
  • Reports
  • About Us
    • About TaxWatch
    • Who we are
    • TaxWatch History
    • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us

Monthly Archives: August 2019

BFI refuses to disclose information regarding GTA V tax credit scandal

13th August 2019 by Alex Dunnagan

The BFI refuses to disclose information regarding the Grant Theft Auto V tax credit scandal, claiming that it would not be in the public interest to do so.

  • BFI refuses to release any information relating to GTA V being certified ‘culturally British’
  • Disclosure would supposedly ‘prejudice the commercial interests of Rockstar North’
  • Following an appeal from TaxWatch stating that disclosure is in the public interest, BFI are holding a review into the decision

The BFI has responded to a Freedom Of Information (FOI) request from TaxWatch, refusing to release documentation relating to GTA V being certified ‘culturally British’.

The BFI’s decision follows an investigation into how the multi-billion dollar game claimed £42m in tax credits from the UK government.

As part of their research, TaxWatch asked the BFI how a game set in a fictitious representation of Los Angeles involving murder, car-jacking, and drug-running could be certified as ‘culturally British’. This certification allowed the developers to claim the tax credits.

The BFI has stated that they do not believe that it is in the public interest to disclose this information.

Commenting on the BFI’s refusal to release the information, Alex Dunnagan researcher at TaxWatch said:

“It is ridiculous for the BFI to say that it is not in the public interest to reveal how they have come to the conclusion that GTA V is culturally British.

“The decision by the BFI resulted in tens of millions of pounds of public money being used to subsidise the most financially successful game in history – with subsidy being granted after it had already made billions in revenues for the US multinational behind the title.

“It is only right that the public is able to scrutinise decisions like this, and to understand how their money is being spent.”

TaxWatch has appealed, with the BFI now undertaking a review into the decision.

World of TaxCraft

Activision Blizzard’s Bermudian Billions

4th August 2019 by George Turner

Activision Blizzard, the publisher of hit games Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Candy Crush, moved €5bn to companies in Bermuda and Barbados between 2013-2017.

The report World of Taxcraft details how the corporate structure of Activision Blizzard, which includes subsidiaries in Bermuda, Barbados, Malta and Ireland, manages to move cash into tax havens.

The offshore structure has attracted the attention of tax authorities around the world, which are currently in a series of disputes with the company. Overall the company is facing tax demands of over $1bn from tax authorities in France and Sweden, demands that the company says it will vigorously contest. In addition, the company has set aside £8.5m in relation to an investigation by the UK tax authority, HMRC. The company has also recently settled a dispute with the US authorities for $345m.

The company says it is now seeking to engage pro-actively with tax authorities to ensure it pays the right amount of tax.

The report also looks at the UK government’s attempts to deal with tax avoidance schemes that use royalty payments to move money into tax havens. Activision Blizzard paid royalties of €5bn to companies in Bermuda and Barbados between 2013-2017.

The report concludes that companies will continue to be able to use these kinds of schemes because the UK government’s proposed rules to deal with this kind of avoidance will not apply to transactions made with a number of tax haven jurisdictions, including Barbados.

Speaking on the publication of the report, George Turner, Director of TaxWatch said:

“With the revelation that Activision Blizzard is currently under investigation by a number of tax authorities around the world, and facing a potential liability of more than $1bn in taxes and penalties, the company is taking tax avoidance in the video games industry to the next level.

“I expect many players of Candy Crush would be outraged to find that the payments they make though the game are sent to a company in Malta, even though King, the Activision company behind the game, is managed from London. Players of the hit mobile game are seeking a little bit of light relief from their daily grind. The last thing they want to do is to be a participant in Activision’s tax games.”

“Our research has found that between 2013 and 2017, Activision Blizzard paid €5bn in royalties generated from games such as World of Warcraft and Call of Duty to companies based in Bermuda and Barbados. This shifting of profits using royalty payments to tax haven companies is the same scheme used by Google, which has been heavily criticised by MPs.

“The UK Government is aware that this kind of structure is an abuse of the UK tax system, and introduced new legislation in 2018 to make the UK sourced element of these royalty payments subject to income tax in the UK. However, for some unknown reason the government have excluded payments made to a number of tax havens, including Barbados, ensuring that the new rules will be almost completely ineffective.

“The government needs to change the rules to close down the loopholes they left in the original legislation, and end these royalty based tax avoidance schemes once and for all.”

  • The full report can be found here
  • A PDF version can be downloaded here

This research has been featured in The Sunday Times, along with Gamesindustry.biz, among other video game industry publications.

Press contacts

For all media enquiries about TaxWatch, or if you would like to be added to our media email list, please contact:

Claire Ralph

Director

email: claire@taxwatchuk.org

Tel: +44 7494 922661

Recent Comments

    Archives

    • August 2023
    • July 2023
    • June 2023
    • May 2023
    • April 2023
    • March 2023
    • February 2023
    • January 2023
    • December 2022
    • November 2022
    • October 2022
    • August 2022
    • July 2022
    • June 2022
    • May 2022
    • April 2022
    • March 2022
    • February 2022
    • January 2022
    • December 2021
    • November 2021
    • October 2021
    • September 2021
    • July 2021
    • June 2021
    • May 2021
    • April 2021
    • March 2021
    • February 2021
    • January 2021
    • December 2020
    • November 2020
    • October 2020
    • September 2020
    • August 2020
    • July 2020
    • June 2020
    • May 2020
    • April 2020
    • March 2020
    • February 2020
    • January 2020
    • November 2019
    • October 2019
    • August 2019
    • July 2019
    • June 2019
    • May 2019
    • April 2019
    • February 2019
    • November 2018
    • October 2018

    Categories

    • About us
    • Coronavirus
    • Events
    • HMRC sanctions
    • Income tax avoidance
    • Issues
    • Multinational Companies
    • News
    • News & Media
    • Online Marketplaces
    • Press relases
    • Public Service
    • Regulation of professionals
    • Tax Fraud
    • Tax Gap
    • Tax Policy
    • Tax subsidies
    • TaxWatch in the news
    • Tech
    • Uncategorised
    • VAT

    Meta

    • Log in
    • Entries feed
    • Comments feed
    • WordPress.org


    TaxWatch

    c/o M & A Solicitors

    38 Coney Street

    York

    YO1 9ND

     

    info@taxwatchuk.org

    Copyright © 2023 TaxWatch

     

     

    Follow us on X (Twitter)