In its draft bill for the 2026 Annual Tax Act, the German Federal Government has proposed a significant increase in the tax-exempt threshold from 10,000 euros to 100,000 euros per year for royalty payments to foreign authors and rights holders. Together with our colleagues from other associations in the German cultural and creative industries, we welcome this first step, as it represents a significant reduction in administrative burdens and red tape for game designers from abroad and their German publishers. This new exemption limit is likely to apply in most cases, at least in our industry, and render the exemption applications that were previously often necessary obsolete. We hope for prompt implementation and view this planned increase as a success of our joint efforts during the last years.

In the associations’ statement, further necessary steps are also called for. These include reducing bureaucracy in line with the model of most European countries, as well as the repeal of Section 50d(3) of the German Income Tax Act (EStG) for all licensing transactions in the creative industries. SAZ supports these demands.

Link to the associations’ statement dated June 09, 2026 (PDF in German)