Governments from across Europe are pressing ahead with efforts to reinstate ticket taxes for video-game rentals and purchases.
Governments from across Europe are pressing ahead with efforts to reinstate ticket taxes for video-game rentals and purchases.
Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Sweden and the U.K. have all introduced new forms of ticket tax in response to European Central Bank policy decisions to weaken the euro by cutting the deposit rate, according to a report compiled by game sector lobby group Eurogamer. Malta and Slovakia introduced the levy before the ECB’s moves, but after its announcements they have suspended the measure.
The Reuters report, seen by Reuters, said four of the countries are still considering imposing the charge, which adds to the cost of going to the cinema. Two of the four declined to comment, with the other two saying they are studying the issue.
While the tax was removed for chain-size electronic games the first time around, Games Tax Ltd. points out that the rental of smaller games was still considered more “disruptive” to physical box office. Those included Grand Theft Auto 5, FIFA 17, NBA 2K17, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Assassins Creed Syndicate, Battlefield 1, Destiny 2 and Destiny 2: The Taken King.
Eurogamer interviewed Peter Garnry, the chief executive officer of gaming lobby group Eurogamer Media Group. “It’s one more thing that is a little frustrating,” he said. “For a brand new, hugely innovative item, like a new eSports league or a VR game like Astro Bot, we are already all forced to pay VAT, which makes buying it in one-off units an unnecessary expense, because the lifetime value is so low.”
With the digital revolution, government revenue coffers have been hit by digital sales. In September the European commission in Brussels said that 21 countries had introduced new legislation and guidance to tax purchases as well as used games.