UK creative sector benefits from £700m in tax relief

The Crown

The UK’s creative industries have benefitted from more than £700 million in tax relief over the past year, according to government stats.

Creative Sector Tax Reliefs were introduced to help UK businesses and the government report claims that TV series like Netflix’s The Crown and films like Lady Macbeth are among the productions to have made use of the High-End TV and Film Tax Reliefs.

The government’s creative industry stats claim that a total of 45 TV programmes completed in 2016-17 claimed High-end Television Tax Relief (HTR) with UK expenditure of £480 million.

Since the relief was introduced in 2013, the government said some 205 programmes have made claims, supporting £1.5 billion of UK expenditure.

“Each programme may make several claims during the production process. In 2016-17, £163 million of HTR was paid in response to 140 claims,” said the report in reference to TV tax relief. “A total of £374 million have been paid out in response to 360 claims since HTR was introduced.”

Overall the government said that more than 2,070 films, 295 videogames and 205 high-end TV productions have benefited from the tax reliefs since their respective introductions. The figures also show that 1,750 theatres have benefited from the available support.

“The UK’s creative industries are one of our biggest success stories,” said creative industries minister Matt Hancock.

“They play a vital role in shaping the UK’s image and reputation at home and abroad, and through initiatives like the tax relief scheme, we are creating the right environment for this dynamic sector to flourish and thrive.”

“Britain’s creative industries are growing faster than the rest of the economy and we want to keep it that way.”