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Amendment of section 481A of Principal Act (relief for investment in digital games)
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99. (1) Section 481A of the Principal Act is amended—
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(a) in subsection (1)—
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(i) in the definition of “undertaking in difficulty”, by the substitution of “Restructuring Guidelines;” for “Restructuring Guidelines.”,
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(ii) by the insertion of the following definition:
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“ ‘valid claim’ means a claim in relation to an interim digital games corporation tax credit or a digital games corporation tax credit, as the case may be, which is—
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(a) made under and in accordance with this section, and
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(b) in respect of which all information which the Revenue Commissioners may reasonably require to enable them to determine if, and to what extent, the credit is due to a digital games development company in respect of an accounting period, has been furnished by that company.”,
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and
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(iii) by the deletion of the definitions of “qualifying period” and “specified amount”,
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(b) in subsection (13), by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (h):
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“(h) the digital games development company has been carrying on the trade referred to in paragraph (b) of the definition of ‘digital games development company’ for a period of less than 12 months prior to making a claim.”,
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(c) in subsection (14), by the deletion of paragraphs (a) to (d),
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(d) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (14):
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“(14A) A claim by a digital games development company for an interim digital games corporation tax credit under subsection (19) or a digital games corporation tax credit under subsection (20) shall not include expenditure—
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(a) where it would be reasonable to consider that the amount of such expenditure or any particular item of such expenditure has been inflated,
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(b) in respect of which the company has obtained relief under Part 29,
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(c) in respect of which the company has obtained relief under section 481, and
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(d) that has been or is to be met directly or indirectly by grant assistance or any other assistance which is granted by or through—
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(i) the State or another Member State of the European Union,
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(ii) any board established by statute, any public or local authority or any other agency of the State or another Member State or an institution, office, agency or other body of the European Union, or
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(iii) a state, other than the State or a Member State referred to in subparagraph (i), and any board, authority, institution, office, agency or other body in such state.”,
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(e) in paragraph (e) of subsection (16), by the deletion of “, within the time referred to in paragraph (d),”,
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(f) in subsection (17)—
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(i) in paragraph (i), by the substitution of “qualifying digital game, and” for “qualifying digital game,”,
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(ii) in paragraph (j), by the substitution of “subsection (16)(a).” for “subsection (16)(a), and”, and
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(iii) by the deletion of paragraph (k),
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(g) in subsection (19), by the deletion of paragraph (a),
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(h) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (19):
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“(19A) A claim under subsection (19) shall be made within 12 months from the end of the accounting period in which the expenditure, giving rise to the claim, is incurred and shall be made in the return, required under Part 41A, in respect of that accounting period.”,
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(i) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (21):
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“(21) A claim under subsection (20) shall be made in the return, required under Part 41A, in respect of the accounting period referred to in paragraph (a) of subsection (21A).”,
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(j) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (21):
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“(21A) A claim under subsection (20) shall be made—
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(a) within 12 months from the end of the accounting period in which the last of the expenditure giving rise to the claim is incurred, or
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(b) in a case in which the final certificate is issued after a date which is 3 months prior to the expiry of the 12-month period referred to in paragraph (a), within 3 months from the date on which that certificate is issued.”,
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(k) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (22):
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“(22) Where a digital games development company makes a claim for an interim digital games corporation tax credit under subsection (19) or a digital games corporation tax credit under subsection (20), the digital games development company shall specify as regards the amount claimed under subsection (19) or subsection (20), as the case may be, whether that amount or any portion of that amount is to be—
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(a) treated as an overpayment of tax, for the purposes of section 960H, or
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(b) paid to the company by the Revenue Commissioners.”,
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(l) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (22):
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“(22A) Where a claim in respect of an interim digital games corporation tax credit under subsection (19) or a digital games corporation tax credit under subsection (20) is made, the amount of the interim digital games corporation tax credit or the amount of the digital games corporation tax credit, as the case may be, shall be paid or offset in full, in the manner specified by the digital games development company under subsection (22), by the Revenue Commissioners within 48 months from when a valid claim is made.
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(22B) No amount of the interim digital games corporation tax credit or the digital games corporation tax credit shall be paid or offset under subsection (22A) unless a valid claim has been made to the Revenue Commissioners for that purpose.
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(22C) Nothing in this section shall prevent the Revenue Commissioners from examining a claim subsequent to any payment or offset having been made and making or amending an assessment, as the case may be, under Chapter 5 of Part 41A.
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(22D) The interim digital games corporation tax credit or the digital games corporation tax credit, if any, arising to a digital games development company in accordance with this section shall not be income of the digital games development company or another company for the purposes of corporation tax.
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(22E) Any claim in respect of an interim digital games corporation tax credit under subsection (19) or a digital games corporation tax credit under subsection (20) (whether, in either case, the amount of the credit is to be treated as an overpayment of tax under subsection (22)(a) or paid to the company under subsection (22)(b)) shall, for the purposes of sections 851A and 851B, Chapter 4 of Part 38 and Part 47, be treated as a claim for a credit and the amount so claimed shall be treated as an amount of tax refundable.
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(22F) Where a digital games development company specifies that an interim digital games corporation tax credit or a digital games corporation tax credit is to be treated, under subsection (22)(a), as an overpayment of tax, and where that amount is, under section 960H, offset in whole or in part against the company’s corporation tax payable (within the meaning of Part 41A) for the accounting period, then, for the purposes of calculating the amount of preliminary tax due in respect of that accounting period and the subsequent accounting period under section 959AR or 959AS, as the case may be, the amount of corporation tax payable by the company for that accounting period shall be reduced by the amount so offset.”,
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(m) by the deletion of subsections (23) and (24),
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(n) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (25):
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“(25) In respect of any claim in respect of an interim digital games corporation tax credit or a digital games corporation tax credit, as the case may be, that remains unpaid, for the purposes of determining an amount in accordance with subsection (3) or (4) of section 1077F, a reference to an amount of tax that would have been payable for the relevant period by the person concerned shall be read as if it were a reference to the amount so claimed.”,
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(o) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (26):
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“(26) (a) Subject to paragraph (b), where a digital games development company makes a claim in respect of an interim digital games corporation tax credit or a digital games corporation tax credit and it is subsequently found that the claim is not as authorised by this section, then—
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(i) the company,
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(ii) any director of the company, or
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(iii)any person referred to in subsection (13)(c),
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may be charged to tax under Case IV of Schedule D for the accounting period, or year of assessment, as the case may be, in respect of which the payment was made, in an amount equal to—
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(I) in the case of a company, 4 times, and
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(II) in the case of an individual, one hundred fortieths,
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of so much of the amount of the interim digital games corporation tax credit or the digital games corporation tax credit, as the case may be, as is not so authorised.
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(b) An amount chargeable to tax under this subsection shall be treated—
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(i) as income against which no loss, deficit, expense or allowance may be set off, and
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(ii) as not forming part of the income of the company for the purposes of calculating a surcharge under section 440.”,
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(p) in subsection (27), by the substitution of “The circumstances in which a claim is not authorised by this section shall include any circumstances where the amount was claimed under either or both subsection (19) and subsection (20), or paid or offset under subsection (22A)” for “The circumstances in which an unauthorised amount arises shall include any circumstances where the amount was claimed under either or both subsection (19) and subsection (20), or paid in accordance with subsection (23)”,
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(q) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (28):
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“(28) Where an amount is charged to tax in accordance with subsection (26), the amount so charged shall, for the purposes of section 1080, be deemed to be tax due and payable and shall carry interest as determined in accordance with subsection (2)(c) of section 1080 as if a reference to the date when the tax became due and payable were a reference to the date the amount was paid or offset, under section 960H, by the Revenue Commissioners.”,
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and
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(r) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (31):
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“(31) No amount of an interim digital games corporation tax credit or a digital games corporation tax credit shall be paid or offset under subsection (22A) by the Revenue Commissioners in respect of an interim or final certificate issued after 31 December 2025.”.
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(2) Subject to subsection (3), subsection (1) shall apply in respect of an accounting period commencing on or after 1 January 2024.
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(3) Paragraphs (c), (d), (e) and (j) of subsection (1) shall have effect on and from 1 January 2024.
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