Tax breaks for British film industry given go-ahead by EU

What it means is that a film made in Britain costing £40m would get an extra £1m towards its production costs.

Announcing the scheme on the set of Agatha Raisin, a new British TV series being filmed in Wiltshire that is benefiting from the government’s high-end TV tax relief, George Osborne said: “These tax credits, that support both film and TV production, create around £2bn worth of business for Britain”.

Due to the reengineering of the scheme, films of all budgets will now be eligible for a 25% rebate on UK qualifying expenditure.

But the new measures needed to be approved by the EU under rules about how governments can support companies.

“This most recent enhancement to the Film Tax Relief is real testament to the British Government’s continued support for our screen industries – a commitment which the BFC and its partners share”.

“A key part of our long-term economic plan is supporting our creative industries that contribute billions to the economy and provide millions of jobs”.

Joining Osborne was Amanda Nevill, chief executive of the British Film Institute (BFI) and Ivan Dunleavy, the CEO of Pinewood Group.

“We look forward to working with United Kingdom and global film producers and keeping the U.K.at the heart of worldwide film and television production”, he said.

“It keeps us competitive on the world stage, and helps grow our economy and create jobs at home”.

With the UK’s studios already packed to the rafters, it’s a good thing that more soundstages are being built as the already lucrative film tax break is being increased.

The Treasury said that it supported 222 films a year ago.

Films that have qualified under the cultural test for film tax relief include: Skyfall, World War Z, Paddington, The Theory of Everything, Mr Turner, The Imitation Game, Gravity, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Previously, the rate was 25% for the first £20 million of qualifying expenditure and 20% for spending above this threshold.