There’s nothing worse than that sinking feeling when you think your games studio might have missed the boat when it comes to claiming VGTR.

I have some good news for anyone concerned about this.

Imagine you started development in 2023 and didn’t realise you could claim for VGTR, and you’ve already submitted your Year End Accounts and Corporation Tax Return for 2023.

If you’re able to successfully obtain a BFI Certificate for your game, then all is not lost.

HMRC allows you to amend a Corporation Tax Return (CT600) up to one year following the tax return filing deadline, so effectively up to 2 years after your accounts' year end date.

ℹ️ To explain this in simpler terms:

As an example, if you have an Accounting Reference Date / Year End of 31 Dec 2023, your Corporation Tax Return filing deadline is 31 Dec 2024. Therefore, you have one year from 31 Dec 2024 to amend your Corporation Tax Return (ie: to 31 Dec 2025) to include a VGTR claim. So, as long as you submit the amended Return by the deadline of 31 Dec 2025 then all good.

This means that all costs incurred from 1 Jan 2023 could still be claimed within HMRC’s deadlines.

As another example, if your Year End was 31 March 2023, you have until 31 March 2025 to make an amended Corporation Tax Return. That means that spend from 1 April 2022 could still be included in a VGTR claim – but be aware, 31 March 2025 is fast approaching and your BFI certificate must be in place to allow you to claim.

👉 What should you do if this affects you?

Firstly, speak with your Accountant regarding obtaining a Certificate from the BFI, which must be in place before you can claim VGTR. It is absolutely fine for your BFI certificate to be dated after your development start date.

Once in place, your Accountant should calculate your VGTR claim and amend your 31 Dec 2023 Corporation Tax Return to include this claim. Ideally your Accountant will have had previous experience in calculating and submitting VGTR claims.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about this.

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