British film and TV producers can breathe a sigh of relief after months of uncertainty around the country’s tax relief scheme for production.
As part of the U.K.’s spring budget, Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt revealed on Wednesday that he’s raising tax credits and keeping the qualifying threshold in place. This is a welcome move for the TV production community, in particular, which has for years taken advantage of a lucrative scheme in which scripted TV shows with a minimum spend of £1 million per broadcast hour are able to claim payable cash rebates of up to 25% on qualifying U.K. spend.
The scheme has been under review since the fall; however, Hunt confirmed Wednesday that both film and high-end TV will be eligible for a credit rate of 34% — up from the previous 25% — and that the qualifying threshold for high-end TV will remain at £1 million.
As part of the budget, the film, TV and video games tax reliefs will be reformed from April 1, 2024, becoming expenditure credits instead of additional deductions.
“The new Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit will replace the current film, high-end TV, animation and children’s TV tax reliefs,” reads a line from the budget.
Elsewhere, animation and children’s TV will be eligible for a rate of 39%, while a new Video Games Expenditure Credit will have a credit rate of 34%.
More to come.
