FPC60010 - Film Tax Relief: Claims: How relief is claimed
Film Tax Relief (FTR) is a corporation tax relief. It is claimed
for each relevant accounting period by completing the appropriate
section (“Information about enhanced expenditure”) in
the film production company’s (FPC’s) tax return form
(CT600) and by supplying the required supplementary information
set.
The tax return form must be accompanied by either an interim
or final certificate, as the case may be, from the Department for
Culture Media and Sport that the film is British (
FPC40030).
Additional deduction
The FPC should indicate that it is claiming FTR using form CT600 by:
- putting an “X” in Box 167 and
- entering in Box 101 the expenditure upon which the claim is based.
Boxes 99, 100, 102 and 103 are not relevant to FTR.
Example
An FPC incurs total expenditure of £45m on a British
film. Of this expenditure, £40m is core expenditure. £30m
(75%) of that core expenditure is incurred in the United Kingdom,
and £10m (25%) elsewhere. The company is entitled to the
following deductions:
- £45m “ordinary” deduction, plus
- £24m additional deduction (= 80% x £30m: the core UK expenditure is less than 80% of £40m, so it all qualifies ( FPC55020))
Giving a total deduction of £69m.
The figure that should be entered in box 101 (the
“enhanced expenditure figure” referred to in the Note
to box 101) is £24m.
Payable tax credit
If the company is claiming any payable tax credit, then it should enter the amount in boxes 87and 168.
Interim claims
Certain of the conditions which determine entitlement to relief or the quantum of relief (British film ( FPC40030); required minimum amount of UK expenditure ( FPC40040); and, if relevant, limited-budget status ( FPC10160)) can only be met with certainty once the film is completed;
- Whether a film is a British film depends on who is involved in the production and where the film is made, so that although the initial plan may be to make a film which qualifies as British, changes in response to circumstances (such as the unavailability of a lead actor) may mean that the eventual film does not.
- Similarly, the actual amount of core expenditure in the UK, as a proportion of the total, is only certain on completion, as is the overall spending on the film (which determines whether the film is limited-budget or not).
The legislation therefore allows relief to be claimed on an interim basis, assuming that the required conditions have been met. Film productions typically operate according to a strict budget so it should be clear from the outset whether they are likely to be met. If any of the conditions are not actually met on completion of the film, then the position is adjusted to reflect the outcome, including, if appropriate, repayment of film tax credit to HMRC and HMRC charging interest (though penalties would not normally be appropriate).
Supplementary Information
Claims should be supported by certain additional information. There are two cases with differing requirements:
- films which are completed within a single accounting period, and
- films whose production takes more than one period
Each of these cases is covered at FPC60020.
