When the Chancellor stands up to deliver his annual Budget, most of us are hoping for good news on the personal tax allowance, no extra duty on a pint of beer and the possibility of cheaper petrol.
But if you’re running a UK creative business, Budget 2015 contained some very good news amongst George Osborne’s other announcements. So, here’s the lowdown on those announcements and the impact they could have for your company.
Video Games Prototype Fund
The success of the UK’s video games industry is something that, as a country, we’re rightly proud of. And the Government has backed this up by committing £4million to a new Video Games Prototype Fund.
TIGA, the video games industry trade association, has applauded this financial commitment and the ongoing help it will give to video game start-ups. The fund is designed to target gaming development talent and to continue the UK’s success in this market.
Television production tax reliefs
Television is another creative industry where the UK has a proven track record for producing quality programming that’s exported across the world. To help TV production companies continue to flourish, the Government has introduced a reduction in minimum UK expenditure requirements for high-end television tax relief – that’s down from 25% to 10% from 1 April 2015.
The cultural test for this high-end tax relief, for expenditure incurred from 1 April 2015, has also been updated. That’s to match the modernisation of the test for film tax relief.
The tax relief available for children’s TV production has also been updated. You can still get relief on 25% of the qualifying production expenditure, but the remit has been extended further from 1 April 2015 to include not just animation and live-action shows but also gameshows and other competitions.
So, all great news if you’re a TV production company and want to look at minimising your tax spend!
Film and animation tax reliefs
As the many British nominations and wins at the recent Oscars showed, UK film is on the up. Film is a key industry for the country and one of the UK’s big creative employers, so financial support from the Government is a sound economic move to safeguard our many film studios and production companies.
With this in mind, the rate of film tax relief has increased to 25% from 1 April 2015 for all qualifying core expenditure on eligible film productions. And the current distinction between limited-budget films and all others has also been removed.
There’s also help for the animation sector with a reduction in minimum UK expenditure requirements for animation tax relief down from 25% to 10%.
Skills Investment Fund
When you’re a small creative start-up, getting access to the funding you need to grow and find talent can be tricky. The Skills Investment Fund exists to help fund training and development across the whole creative spectrum, from video games and animation through to film, TV and visual effects.
In the Budget 2015, the Government extended this Skills Investment Fund for another two years and also committed an additional £4million to support the fund and its aims for the creative industries.
Getting the most from your creative industry spending
So, if you’re involved in TV, film, animation or video games production then there are some very attractive reasons to look at the available tax reliefs and funding support. Following the Budget 2015, not only will you be spending 1p less on a pint, you’ll also be able to benefit from some serious financial support for your creative company.
If you’re a creative business and want to know if you’re eligible for any of these reliefs, please do drop us a line or give us a call on 0161 457 0210.
