Grand Theft Auto maker hasn't paid corporation tax in 10 years

The UK-based game developer Rockstar North hasn't paid corporation tax in a decade despite scoring billions in revenue.

A report from the investigative thinktank TaxWatch UK estimates Rockstar Games operating profit at $5bn (4bn) between 2013 and 2019, during which time the company released Grand Theft Auto V (GTA V) and Red Dead Redemption 2. Rockstar North is part of Rockstar Games. ... But the company paid no corporation tax between 2009 and 2018. It received 42m in tax credits from the governments video games tax relief scheme, which was set up in 2014 to bolster the UKs 5bn games industry, much of which is made up of small and medium-sized developers. The sum is equivalent to 19% of the total relief paid to the entire UK games industry since 2014, TaxWatch reports.

The fact that they've claimed public funds while (legally) avoiding taxation really drives the point home.

A model version of this wheeze:

Company A is in Nation X. Company B is in Nation Y. Company B agrees to pay Company A $10m for the rights to Company A's intellectual property. Company B makes $5m on the resulting product. Company B owes $10m, so it reports a loss to Nation Y's taxman. Company A never gets the $10m it's owed, so reports a loss to Nation X's taxman.

The twist: Company B is owned by Company A, and may even trade under the same damn name.

The question: Where is the $5m revenue?

The answer used to be "an Irish bank," but times change. Read the rest