Proposition 54K3078

Projet de loi visant à étendre le tax shelter à l'industrie du jeu video.

General information ¶

Authors

N-VA Rita Gantois
Open Vld Luk Van Biesen, Dirk Van Mechelen, Vincent Van Quickenborne

Submission date

May 4, 2018

Official page

Visit

Status

Adopted

Requirement

Simple

Subjects

tax law information technology industry tax on income investment toy industry corporation tax tax-free allowance

Voting ¶

Voted to adopt

Groen CD&V Vooruit Ecolo LE PS | SP DéFI Open Vld N-VA MR PP

Voted to reject

PVDA | PTB

Abstained from voting

∉ VB

Contact form ¶

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Discussion ¶

March 21, 2019 | Plenary session (Chamber of representatives)

Full source

Mr Calomne and Mr Gilkinet, rapporteurs, refer to the written report.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the present bill. We have given additional opportunities to Belgian companies to grow into major players in the market. After the film industry and the performing arts, the tax shelter system now gets a third loop, the gaming industry.

The Flemish and Wallish gaming industry has a very strong reputation in the world. However, the major problem for companies is that they are able to raise insufficient financial resources from the market to market their products, which causes them to be acquired by very large foreign companies fairly quickly after their launch. In this way, our technology actually goes completely to foreign companies.

In order to give the industry in Belgium all opportunities for development, we have submitted the present tax shelter proposal, together with the colleagues of CD&V. Many colleagues from the opposition also supported the proposal in the Finance Committee, for which I thank you.

Mr. Speaker, our group will also support this bill, because we want to give this sector every opportunity to grow. Computer games are really no longer to think away from the world of life, especially of our children, but also adults like to be seduced to this form of relaxation. However, the world of these games is dominated mainly by foreign products.

However, our country has a lot to offer. The most important raw material we have is our brain. In this way, we can really engage in competition with the overseas. In terms of games, we have very good, specific and excellent training. Among others, the University of West Flanders, the University of Hasselt and the Albert Jacquard College in Names offer these courses.

Nevertheless, this sector remains a relatively small sector. In Belgium, around 800 people are employed in this sector. As a result, our students, when they graduate, are often forced to seek employment in the sector abroad or outside the sector in their own country. That is very unfortunate.

The development of this sector is hindered mainly by underfinancing. The development of games requires large pre-financing. It should be remembered that the revenue is uncertain. The tax shelter is the cut-off technique to support that growth in the gaming sector. In fact, it aims to attract financing for products that have a long production time and where cash flow is generated at the launch, such as in film production.

The Welsh producers will become more competitive with this tax shelter, by allowing them, like their French competitors, to enjoy a tax shelter. And the multilingualism in Flanders is an asset that we can play internationally through this sector. We will therefore support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I can confirm that we are pleased to provide funding for this sector, which was lacking. There are a hundred companies involved in our country and this will prevent them from turning abroad to try to find development.

There are still two conditions: the agreement of the European Commission and the internal agreement with our country as this implies cooperation between Communities, especially in the cultural and pedagogical sectors.

However, it might be necessary to think about the ability of the tax shelter sector – as well as that of our public finances – to sustain further enlargement.

We are nevertheless very happy to have given this coup de poce to the financing of the video game sector.