HM Treasury has revealed new figures on how much Britain’s Film, High-end TV, and Animation sectors have benefited from government tax reliefs.
Britain’s celebrated and world-leading creative and arts sectors have flourished in the last year, as since these tax reliefs were introduced, 2,955 films, 485 TV productions and 1,075 video-games have benefited from the £1.1 billion cash support from Government, official statistics showed today.
Projects such as the multi-award-winning BBC TV series Killing Eve, and the critically acclaimed film Phantom Thread are among the productions to have reaped the benefits of the High-End TV and Film Tax Reliefs respectively.
“The arts and creative industries make a vital contribution to the UK economy. These tax reliefs have helped support some astonishing and exciting work again this year, celebrating the very best of British culture.”
Jesse Norman, Financial Secretary to the Treasury
In 2016, the screen sector contributed almost £8 billion to the UK economy, and in the same year the film sector alone contributed over £1.71 billion of UK exports.
The Creative Sector Tax Reliefs were introduced to help UK businesses in these highly skilled and innovative sectors thrive at home and abroad. The reliefs support jobs and economic activity in all parts of the UK. Released today, the Creative Industries August 2019 Statistics Commentary expands on these figures on the Creative Sector Tax Reliefs:
“In 2018-19, a total of £1.1 billion was paid out across all of the Creative Industries tax reliefs. This is an increase from £0.9 billion in 2017-18. Film tax relief accounts for over half of the total in each year. The amounts of Film tax relief and High-End Television tax relief have grown particularly strongly, increasing by around 40% during this period.”
Creative Industries August 2019 Statistics Commentary, Gov.uk
Film Tax Relief
245 British films completed in 2018-19 which claimed Film tax relief (FTR), with UK expenditure of £1.9 billion. These figures are likely to increase as more claims are received by HMRC. Since the relief was introduced in 2007, 2,955 films have made claims, accounting for £15.2 billion of UK expenditure.
High-end Television (HETV) Tax Relief
90 British high-end television programmes completed in 2018-19 which claimed High-end Television tax relief (HTR), with UK expenditure of £839 million. These figures are likely to increase as more claims are received by HMRC. Since the relief was introduced in 2013, 485 programmes have made claims, accounting for £4.3 billion of UK expenditure.
Animation Tax Relief
40 British animations completed in 2018-19 which claimed Animation tax relief (ATR), with UK expenditure of £106 million. These figures are likely to increase as more claims are received by HMRC. Since the relief was introduced, 230 animations have made claims, accounting for £412 million of UK expenditure.
Read the Creative Industries August 2019 Statistics Commentary in full
The British Film Institute (BFI), the film and charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the UK, administers cultural tests for the screen sector tax reliefs.
“The BFI’s Screen Business report ‘How screen tax reliefs power economic growth across the UK’ demonstrated how they are helping to drive one of our fastest-growing sectors, creating jobs across the UK, investment in innovation and delivering a strong return on investment to the UK economy with close to £8 billion spent annually on production.
The combination of an explosion in global demand for high-quality productions, our creative and technical excellence, and the UK’s supportive fiscal environment creates huge opportunities for our sector to grow further and boost the future prosperity of the UK.”
Amanda Nevill, CEO at the BFI
