Write what you are looking for and press enter to begin your search!

Logo
live-news-icon

Live News

Corpse Party II: Darkness Distortion to Launch in Fall 2024: In an intense match, the Lone Wolves came out victorious. Read all about the big night here // HBO GO April 2024: Our Picks & Highlights: In an intense match, the Lone Wolves came out victorious. Read all about the big night here // Godzilla X Kong Sighted At Dataran Merdeka In KL, Malaysia: In an intense match, the Lone Wolves came out victorious. Read all about the big night here
post-16 post-13

Rockstar Hasn’t Been Paying UK Corporation Tax For The Last 10 Years

Grand Theft Auto V isn’t just one of the most popular and best-selling video games out there. It is in fact the most profitable entertainment product of all time. By April 2018, the game achieved 90 million sales worldwide and generated US$6 billion in revenue (via gamesindustry.biz). The biggest film phenomenon in recent times, Avengers: Endgame only made around US$2.7 billion which isn’t half the amount GTA V made.

With that amount of success you’d never think that the game’s developer would have any problems paying their taxes but the world is a strange place. According to a report from TaxWatch UK, GTA developer Rockstar North actually hasn’t been paying a single cent of UK corporation tax in the last 10 years.

 

In fact, the same report even showed that Rockstar North received £42 million (US$51 million) in tax credits from the UK government video games tax relief scheme which was set up to support the £5 billion video games industry in the UK (via The Guardian). The companies who apply for the tax relief scheme are mostly small and medium-sized developers and Rockstar North is far from either being small or medium.

What this means is that UK taxpayers have paid millions to subsidise games like GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2. If the report is accurate then Rockstar North has basically been making a crazy amount of money and still claimed for more money through taxes while paying back zero taxes.

“It is outrageous that the UK taxpayer is being asked to shell out tens of millions of pounds in subsidy to the developers of Grand Theft Auto, when at the time that the game’s developers put in their tax credit application Grand Theft Auto V had already generated several billion dollars in sales and profits. This is a drive-by assault on the British taxpayer and corporate welfare scrounging at its very worst.”

– Director of TaxWatch, George Tuurner

TaxWatch concluded that the UK government should be focusing on how the tax relief for games is allocated. It also stated that Rockstar and parent company Take-Two have technically done nothing illegal. So far Rockstar has not made any responses.

Related News

post-07
Mysterious ASUS ROG Phone 5S Specs Leaked

It seems like we might be getting a new variant of the ASUS ROG Phone 5. According to the leak (discovered by our friends at Lowyat), a mysterious ROG...

post-07
Xbox Digital Broadcast Returns To Tokyo Game Show 2023

The Xbox Digital Broadcast makes a comeback for this year's Tokyo Game Show. This exclusive annual event will feature the latest news and updates from...

post-07
Sony Pictures Unveils New Trailer For Historical Action Film, Sisu

Sony Pictures Malaysia has unveiled a new trailer for Sisu. The synopsis reads: During the last desperate days of WWII, a solitary prospector (Jor...

Write a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Tournament Tool Kit

Kakuchopurei Community