Video Games Expenditure Credit (VGEC)

What it is

A Corporation Tax expenditure credit claimed through your Company Tax Return — this is tax relief, not a grant you apply for. UK companies whose video game is certified as British by the BFI, with at least 10% of core costs (designing, producing and testing) on UK activity, can claim a 34% credit on qualifying expenditure — the lower of 80% of total core costs or the UK core spend — for expenditure incurred from 1 January 2024; the credit is itself taxed at the main Corporation Tax rate, so the net benefit is roughly 25.5%. Games produced for advertising, promotional purposes or gambling are excluded.

⚠️ ingest normalisation 2026-08-22: capture set to no-headline-£ (fixed 0): tax relief = % of qualifying expenditure with no fixed ceiling; a headline £ would be invented. ⚠️ ingest normalisation 2026-08-21: games-only fund — heavy confirmed-games preferred rule added (wizard has no games question yet, so unconfirmed tech/creative businesses honestly score ~58%, never 100%). Verified 2026-08-21 on gov.uk/guidance/claiming-video-games-expenditure-credits-for-corporation-tax (page last updated 19 Feb 2026): 34% rate; qualifying expenditure capped at the lower of 80% of total core costs or UK core costs; BFI British certification and ≥10% UK core costs required; game must be intended for supply to the general public; claim via Company Tax Return plus the additional information form, up to 2 years after the end of the period of account. No fixed award min/max — value depends entirely on qualifying spend. Engine cannot express: BFI cultural-test certification, the 10% UK core-cost test, or the excluded-genre rule (advertising/promotional/gambling). legalForm=ltd approximates 'company within the charge to UK Corporation Tax' (sole traders cannot claim). The rescued note that predecessor relief VGTR closes to all claims by April 2027 was NOT re-verified today.