New tax credits for film, TV and game makers

A number of reforms to tax reliefs for the creative sectors came into effect from 1 January 2024. Under the reformed 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. A high-end TV production, film production or video game will receive £5,000 in relief. The uplift in relief for animation has also been 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 of being an adjustment to the company’s taxable profit.

Animation and children’s TV productions will be eligible for a higher credit rate of 39%, a rate increase of 4.25%. The 34% credit rate for film, high end TV and video games is roughly equivalent to a rate increase of 0.5%.

Productions and games in development on 1 April 2025 may continue to use the previous tax reliefs until they end or until 1 April 2027 to provide companies with additional time to adapt to the new expenditure credits.

In addition, as part of the Spring Budget 2023 measures, the temporary higher rates for Theatre Tax Relief (TTR), Orchestra Tax Relief (OTR) and Museums and Galleries Exhibitions Tax Relief (MGETR) were extended for two further years until 1 April 2025.