The U.S. House of Representatives' Ways and Means Committee tackled the tax code and plans to introduce a permanent R&D tax credit as an industry incentive. The lawmakers believe that this new bill is "finally giving American manufacturers the certainty they need to compete against their foreign competition who have long had permanent R&D incentives". This tax credit also concerns video game developers... but not all of them.
Page 24 specifically exempts developers of "violent video games" from taking advantage of this new legislature. The Washington Examiner points out that practically this means that for example Electronic Arts, the developers behind non-violent games like "The Sims" or "FIFA" would not receive the credit since they're also developing "Battlefield" games.
Paradoxically, the very same bill criticizes the current tax code stating that it "has been riddled with lobbyist loopholes that pick winners and losers based on what favors Washington was handing out". While the bill does not give incentives to specific fields of the industry to pander to them, doing the exact opposite and choosing not to give credits to others is just a different way of looking at a half-empty glass... or is it half full? They're not breaking new grounds here - it's still picking winners and losers, just the other way around.
What is your take on the matter? Do you think that such incentives are a good way to stimulate the market? Do you think that the Committee is right in singling out developers of "violent video games"? Discuss, for there are only two things certain in life - death and taxes.
Source (The House of Representatives' Committee on Ways and Means Website)