More tax relief for UK Film Production

UK film, TV and video game producers will benefit from the new tax credits that start on January 1, 2024.

New UK Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit and the Video Games Expenditure Credit have come into effect. All companies will receive more tax relief than they did under the previous system, greater flexibility over production decisions and greater clarity about the amount of credit companies can expect to receive.

Neil Hatton, the chief executive of the UK Screen Alliance, an industry body,has said Britain is “at risk of losing our position as a world leader in this area” because investment in the UK had stagnated, while other countries had made their tax breaks more attractive.

Animation will benefit more. Under the new system, a children’s TV production, animated TV production or film with £1 million of qualifying expenditure will receive an additional £42,500 in relief.  To ensure fairness, the uplift in relief for animation will be extended to include animated films as well as TV programmes.The credits will be calculated directly from a production or game’s qualifying expenditure, instead ofbeing an adjustment to the company’s taxable profit.

The 34% credit rate for film, high end TV and video games is roughly equivalent to a rate increase of 0.5% under the previous tax reliefs.A high-end TV production, film production or video game will receive £5,000 in relief.