Income Tax Assessment Act 1997

CHAPTER 3 - SPECIALIST LIABILITY RULES  

PART 3-45 - RULES FOR PARTICULAR INDUSTRIES AND OCCUPATIONS  

Division 378 - Digital games (tax offset for Australian expenditure on digital games)  

Subdivision 378-A - Tax offset for Australian expenditure in developing digital games  

SECTION 378-25   Arts Minister must issue certificate for the digital games tax offset  

Completion certificate

378-25(1)    
The *Arts Minister must issue a certificate (a completion certificate ) to a company for an income year in relation to a *digital game if:

(a)    the game is *completed in the income year; and

(b)    the company has made an application for a completion certificate in relation to the game; and

(c)    the total of the company ' s *qualifying Australian development expenditure on the game incurred in completing the game is at least $500,000; and

(d)    the Arts Minister is satisfied that the conditions in subsection (7) (about the type of game) are met for the game; and

(e)    the Arts Minister is satisfied that the company:

(i) has developed the game as an original game; and

(ii) is primarily responsible for undertaking activities necessary for the development of the game in Australia.

Note:

The operation of paragraph (e) is affected by paragraph 378-45(1)(d) (which deals with the situation where one company takes over the development of a digital game from another company).

378-25(2)    
A *digital game is completed on the earlier of:

(a)    when the game is first released to the general public (other than for testing purposes); or

(b)    if the game is developed by a company under a contract entered into at *arm ' s length with another entity - when the company first provides a version of the game to the entity in a state where it could reasonably be regarded as ready to be released to the general public.

Porting certificate

378-25(3)    
The *Arts Minister must issue a certificate (a porting certificate ) to a company for an income year in relation to a *digital game if:

(a)    the game is *ported in the income year; and

(b)    the company has made an application for a porting certificate in relation to the game; and

(c)    the total of the company ' s *qualifying Australian development expenditure on the game incurred in porting the game is at least $500,000; and

(d)    the Arts Minister is satisfied that the conditions in subsection (7) (about the type of game) are met for the game; and

(e)    the Arts Minister is satisfied that the company:

(i) either owns or controls the rights to develop the game or has been engaged to develop the game by the entity who owns or controls the rights to develop the game; and

(ii) is primarily responsible for undertaking activities necessary for the development of the game in Australia.

Note:

The operation of subparagraph (e)(ii) is affected by paragraph 378-45(1)(d) (which deals with the situation where one company takes over the development of a digital game from another company).

378-25(4)    
A *digital game that has been *completed is ported on the earlier of:

(a)    when the game is first made available to the general public (other than for testing purposes) on a new platform; or

(b)    if the company developed the game under a contract entered into at *arm ' s length with another entity - when the company first provides a version of the game to the entity in a state where it could reasonably be regarded as ready to be made available to the general public on a new platform.

Ongoing development certificate

378-25(5)    
The *Arts Minister must issue a certificate (an ongoing development certificate ) to a company for an income year in relation to one or more *digital games if:

(a)    *ongoing development on the games occurs in the income year; and

(b)    the company has made an application for the ongoing development certificate; and

(c)    the total of the company ' s *qualifying Australian development expenditure on the games incurred in the income year on the ongoing development of the games in the income year is at least $500,000; and

(d)    the Arts Minister is satisfied that the conditions in subsection (7) (about the type of game) are met for each of the games; and

(e)    the Arts Minister is satisfied that the company:

(i) either owns or controls the rights to develop each of the games or has been engaged to develop the games by the entities who own or control the rights to develop the games; and

(ii) is primarily responsible for undertaking activities necessary for the development of each of the games in Australia.

Note:

The operation of subparagraph (e)(ii) is affected by paragraph 378-45(1)(d) (which deals with the situation where one company takes over the development of a digital game from another company).

378-25(6)    
Ongoing development on a *digital game means activities undertaken to update, improve or maintain the game after it has been *completed.

Type of digital game

378-25(7)    
The conditions in this subsection that must be met for a *digital game are:

(a)    the game is primarily developed to be made available to the general public for entertainment or educational purposes; and

(b)    any of the following apply to the game:

(i) the game is made available for use over the internet;

(ii) the game is primarily played through the internet;

(iii) the game operates only when a player is connected to the internet; and

(c)    the game is not any of the following:

(i) a game that is a gambling service (within the meaning of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 ), or is substantially comprised of gambling or gambling-like practices;

(ii) a game that contains material likely to lead to the game being refused classification under the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act 1995 ;

(iii) a game that is primarily developed for industrial, corporate or institutional purposes;

(iv) a game that is primarily developed to advertise or promote a product, entity or service.

Example 1:

A slot machine simulator game would fail to satisfy the condition that the digital game must not be a gambling service or substantially comprise of gambling or gambling-like practices, even if the game did not involve any real money or money equivalent. However, an adventure game in which a player may advance to a higher level by winning a game of poker could still meet this condition.

Example 2:

An interactive corporate training program would fail to satisfy the condition that the digital game must not be primarily developed for corporate purposes.