GEC gives UK game development companies a 34% credit on qualifying core expenditure — replacing VGTR for projects started from 1 January 2024 onwards, with
Good bookkeeping for creatives starts with one habit: recording income and expenses as they happen, not in a January panic. Disorganised records cost you both
You pass the BFI cultural test by scoring 18 points out of 35 for film and high-end TV, or 16 out of 31 for animation and children’s TV, across four sections covering on-screen content, cultural contribution, production hubs and the nationality of key practitioners. Video games use a separate, development-focused version of the same test. Passing gets you a BFI certificate, the entry ticket for AVEC, VGEC or the Independent Film Tax Credit.
If more than half of your profit comes from literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works you created yourself, you can ask HMRC to tax two consecutive years on the average of their combined profit rather than year by year. The claim is only available where the lower year comes in under 75% of the higher year, or where one of the two years is nil. It has to be made within 22 months of the end of the later tax year, and it cannot be combined with the cash basis, which has been the default for sole traders since April 2024.
A limited company is a separate legal entity from the people who run it. The business can own assets, enter contracts, and owe money in
To register for MTD for Income Tax, you’ll need a Government Gateway ID, MTD-compatible software, and your National Insurance number. VAT-registered businesses are already enrolled
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