Labour shadow minister praises TIGA for tax relief lobbying

A Labour shadow minister has praised a videogame organisation's long-fought campaign to hand tax relief to the gaming industry.

Stephen Timms, the shadow minister of state for employment and the former financial secretary to the Treasury, said he hoped the tax break would boost Britain's economy.

Videogame development was handed tax breaks as part of Chancellor George Osborne's Budget in March.

It followed years of lobbying by TIGA, the trade association representing the UK games industry.

TIGA says it is now liaising with developers to ensure the Government frames the tax relief in a way which is simple and effective for the games industry to use. TIGA wants the application process to be an easy one.

Mr Timms said: "As a Government Minister, and more recently from the Opposition benches, I have seen TIGA campaign creatively, tenaciously and effectively on behalf of video games developers. I hope the tax credit which their lobbying has secured will provide a real boost to the UK industry."

Gaming is worth an estimated £1bn to the UK's GDP and the country has been responsible for some of gaming's most iconic titles including Grand Theft Auto and Fable.

Before the Coalition government granted tax relief, Labour chancellor Alistair Darling had announced similar plans in March 2010. It was later scrapped by Osborne but resurrected this year.