A recent article on www.stuff.co.nz has highlighted that Australia’s R&D Tax Incentive and Digital Games Tax Offset has the NZ video game development industry worried
The article highlights that:
As a separate incentive, companies undertaking development activity in Australia may qualify for the R&D Tax Incentive where their activities meet the relevant criteria.
In May 2022, the Australian treasury published the Exposure Draft Explanatory Materials on the DGTO, which has clarified that there is not a crossover with the R&D Tax Incentive; expenditure claimed under the R&D tax incentive cannot be claimed under the DGTO, and vice versa.
The DGTO may however allow companies to access a tax offset for expenditure that does not qualify under the R&D Tax Offset.
The status of the DGTO (as to when or if it will be passed as law) is not yet clear given that it was not passed as law before the old federal parliament was dissolved.