Australia: Guidance on claiming digital games tax offset
A guide on how digital game developers can claim the digital games tax offset for costs incurred in developing digital games.
Guidance on claiming digital games tax offset
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) released a guide on how digital game developers can claim the digital games tax offset (DGTO) for costs incurred in developing digital games in Australia.
To be eligible to claim the DGTO in an income year, the applicant must:
- Be an Australian resident company with an Australian business number (ABN) or a foreign resident company that has a permanent establishment in Australia with an ABN
- Obtain one or more certificates from the Minister for the Arts stating their eligibility for the DGTO and total qualifying Australian development expenditure (QADE) for the income year
- Claim the offset in their company tax return for the income year
Once they have a certificate from the Minister for the Arts, applicants can claim the DGTO in their company tax return.
The amount of the refundable tax offset that applicants can claim for an income year is 30% of the sum of QADE specified in certificates issued to them for the relevant income year (subject to the $20 million* cap across connected or affiliated companies).
*$=Australian dollar
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