Developers of popular games such as Battlefield, Halo, and Gears of War may soon have cause for concern. The House Ways and Means Committee’s new draft for tax reform sets a bulls-eye squarely on video game developers. According to chairman and CEO of UPS, Scott Davis, the Tax Reform Act of 2014 “will strengthen American businesses and create jobs in the United States.” However, game makers may soon have to worry about an increase in taxes.
Upon further review, the Washington Examiner discovered an unusual bit of fine print that is worth mentioning. If the tax reform detailed in the committee’s plan were to come to fruition, the research and development tax credit afforded to basically everything else would not be extended to include video game developers who create content depicting violence.
The bill aims to diminish the gap between the United States and its foreign competitors and reintroduce parity to the marketplace in all of its aspects. Despite this intention, the bill fails to take into account the competition America faces within the video game industry, especially from her northern neighbors in Canada. Interestingly enough, the bill’s vague wording and composition seems to categorize violent video games and illegal businesses into the same ilk.
The act also raises many questions about what exactly constitutes a “violent video game.” Unfortunately, the act targets video game developers as opposed to individual games. Developers who have a majority of family friendly titles with a few violent games in between, may still lose out on the tax credit all together.
In 2011, the Supreme Court decided that video games qualify for protection under the First Amendment’s right to freedom of speech. The tax act appears to ignore the Supreme Court’s decision and the gaming industry’s relevance to mainstream America, becoming another example of a long-standing attempt by the government to denounce and discredit video games and their developers.
The bill was drafted by the bipartisan House Ways and Means Committee, which is headed by Dave Camp, Michigan’s Republican representative. The Tax Act of 2014 is still under review within the house and has yet to be voted on, and maintains the politically motivated desire to place the onus of real world acts of violence on video games and those who play them.