- This topic has 17 replies, 15 voices, and was last updated 15 years, 2 months ago by
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http://www.develop-online.net/news/32926/Realtime-Worlds-threatens-tax-escape-to-Ireland
:shock:
For once in my life I’m speechless.Dare is ask, anyone got an opinion on this…..
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wtf? a games company in ireland?
http://imas.evolvingsoftware.co.uk/public/link?id=4-5785-1408-14-f5a6d349ee4d44a5cb7e4eb1aa92a84c
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More bark than bite I’d hazzard.
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Yeah that just took me by a surprise!! Though I’d say very unlikely!
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I don’t think it will happen, I think they just want to add their voice to the tax cut debate that TIGA keep pushing for
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Strong threat though, interesting to see if the bluff is called. I suspect it will as i dont see them still giving the tax breaks, they are holding out pretty strong IMO.
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They wouldn’t just move the studio, the cost of moving staff and or re-hiring for those who wouldn’t relocate would be high. Scotland has a good infrastructure and Ireland…well…doesn’t. I’d bet on it being a threat and nothing more.
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I wouldn’t necessarily assume they need to move the whole studio to move their offices.
I’m not familiar with the exact specifics of how this would work, but maybe they are threatening to open a small office of some sort here and use transfer pricing to book their profit in Ireland, and leave the bulk of their dev in Scotland; or otherwise migrate the profit here first, and bring the rest of the dev over time.
Maybe that wouldn’t work – just something to think about. -
The cost of moving and upset to development would be far to great IMO. Don’t see this happening.
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Firstly, this would be awesome. If I was Brian Cowen (or any of the rest of them) I’d start sending the fruit baskets and wine&cheese hampers right about now.
Second, relocating some staff and jobs wouldn’t or shouldn’t be impossible. I mean, they could relocate to Belfast or Dublin, all on the same coast – so ferries and Ryanair would make it easy to go back and forth.
Thirdly, however, I think it is a bit of a bluff, and the company "throwing its toys" in effort to get cut some slack.
However, having said all that, I still think Mr. Cowen and the rest of them should still commence the Operation WOO. Immediately. Like now.
B.
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I wouldn’t necessarily assume they need to move the whole studio to move their offices.
I’m not familiar with the exact specifics of how this would work, but maybe they are threatening to open a small office of some sort here and use transfer pricing to book their profit in Ireland, and leave the bulk of their dev in Scotland; or otherwise migrate the profit here first, and bring the rest of the dev over time.
[/quote:1cf3c94434]Yeah if RTW were to go ahead with this sort of thing then they wouldn’t up sticks and leave Scotland completely. They would probably just form an additional dev team here, with some core people moving over from Dundee to get the ball rolling, and they would then change RTW to be an Irish registered company.
I mean, they could relocate to Belfast or Dublin
[/quote:1cf3c94434]Emmm…. Belfast is in the UK so there is no benefit in them moving there.
Anyway, I would love to know what these "reasonable corporate tax breaks" are that RTW are being tempted here by and how many other game dev studios they have been offered to. I assume it’s not just the usual Irish corporate tax rate that they’re talking about since that has been around for decades.
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A similar story is also seen on Gamastura…
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=25430 -
I wasn’t sure if Northern Ireland had devolved enough yet to the point where they can set their own tax rates, that’s why I put Belfast in as a possible. If that is not the case, and their tax rates are currently being set by London then yea, that will rule out Belfast, I would imagine.
Gamasutra have an article up about it also: http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=25430
I hope there’s people in the IDA sitting up and taking notice of this topic…
B.
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I left RTW at the end of 2007 and I don’t believe that they are going to make a move like that. They were still recruiting more people at that time and planning for larger offices. A lot of their staffs are not from the EU and moving would be a big problem for those people in terms of getting a visa and it took them a lot of time finding the right people.
I am not from the EU and I can assure you that it is not easy to get a work visa for Ireland.What they could do is start something small here with just a dozen staffs and see how it works and if things turn out fine they could just move everything. They have the finances to start another office.
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Hi guys,
Sounds cool, and if they get behind us this way, then we’ll get developers moving here.
I’ll see if I can get some more info and see what was actually said at the think in, because that where it seems to be stemming from. If it is policy however, that has fantastic implications, as there are tons of London based companies moving here for the exact same reasons, so if they are making a point of highlighting games, then it would be great for the industry here!
Jamie
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I’m with kyotokid on this one, I’d say their comments are more likely designed to strengthen TIGA’s calls to the Scottish government regarding the introduction of tax cuts for the industry. The timing is also interesting when you consider it was only a couple of weeks ago that these moves were said to be at risk given the fact that they’d have to be approved via the EC.
On the other hand, with RTW’s current and next game being MMOs combined with the fact that they’re expanding pretty rapidly and have the VC funding to back it up, I wouldn’t completely rule out some sort of satellite studio being set up outside of Scotland. That being said, as far as a complete studio moves goes, I’d say it’s not going to happen.
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If I was Brian Cowen (or any of the rest of them) I’d start sending the fruit baskets and wine&cheese hampers right about now[/quote:ae9e2ffa94]
Not gonna happen, by government decree all gifts comprising of food and/or drink have to first be delivered to Mary Harney’s house for evaluation. She hasn’t given the thumbs up yet…
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