Record amount paid out in film and TV tax breaks
Record amount paid out in film and TV tax breaks
As we all watch more films over the Christmas period than any other time of the year, it’s interesting to know how the arts are supported to provide our entertainment.
In 2023 the most amount paid out in creatives tax relief ever was made with an increase of £600m from the previous year.
The substantial rise was mainly due to an increase in relief granted in the high-end television sector (HETV), with the theatre industry also seeing a significant increase with over 1100 companies applying.
High-end TV accounted for 50% (£1.1bn) of all of the creative reliefs granted in 2022/23, while film tax relief accounted for just a quarter (£553m).
The head of strategic communications at the British Film Institute said: ‘Coming out of the pandemic we have seen accelerated growth in production in the UK, particularly in film and high-end TV production; video games development was less hampered by the restrictions.’
‘To put this in an economic context, the record spend on film and high-end TV in 2019 of £3.6bn was overtaken by £5.64bn in 2021 (starting to come out of the pandemic, production taking place, government’s Production Restart Scheme supporting production), then that was overtaken by £6.27bn in 2022.’
‘Last year we saw £4.23bn in combined spend, however, it was disrupted to an extent with a number of film and high-end television productions halted or rescheduled owing to the strikes which affected US productions globally including the UK and of course, these are generally large scale films and high-end TV shows, which contribute billions to the UK economy and support a huge range of jobs.’
Reports have shown that in total 3,615 companies made 3,980 claims for a total of 9,090 projects across the UK with the children’s TV sector having just 65 companies apply for the relief, amounting to £27m.
Since media relief was introduced for high-end TV products in 2013, £3.96bn has been paid out for 1,375 claims. Pre-pandemic the amount of relief granted was less than half for HETV claims, obviously slumping throughout the pandemic period.
Film tax relief has historically been used more than high end TV relief, increasing most years up until the pandemic. The 2019/20 tax year saw just over £600m granted in relief, falling £200m through the pandemic, although this is now climbing again (6% compared to 2021/22), not so much as high end TV relief, which has grown by 13% in a single year.
Video game tax relief (VGTR) is also continuously climbing, with a 10% increase in the number of claims last year. Unlike other industries, there was no decrease through the pandemic, increasing by around £40m in 2019/20 to £200m. In 2022-23 it is reaching £300m of relief with just 525 claims.
Theatre tax relief has seen over a 50% jump, reaching £180m, this is the first time more than £100m has been handed out since it was introduced in 2014.
A representative of the creative sector said: ‘With high end TV continuing to show such strong results, these figures demonstrate the UK’s ability to attract international studios to produce high quality content here, helped by our incentives and world class facilities and talent.’
‘The UK is recognised as a heavyweight in the video games industry, but the sector has faced significant headwinds during the last 12 months as businesses adapt to changes in market conditions. With all these challenges the tax incentives have become an increasingly important means of attracting investment to the UK.’
‘These creative industry incentives continue to be a huge success story for the UK, and it’s been good to see the new government extol the importance of the creative sector to the whole country.’
‘At a time when consumer spending has tightened and budgets are being cut, it’s even more important to demonstrate stability to these reliefs to attract inward investment and support the sector.’