If your business works in film, TV, games or the arts, Creative Industry Tax Reliefs could reduce your Corporation Tax bill and may even generate a payable tax credit.

Creative Industry Tax Reliefs (CITR) are a range of UK Corporation Tax reliefs designed to support companies operating in the creative sector. The reliefs allow qualifying companies to increase the amount of allowable expenditure when calculating their taxable profits, thereby reducing the Corporation Tax they are required to pay. Where a company is loss-making, it may be possible to surrender those losses in exchange for a payable tax credit.

CITR covers a wide variety of creative activities. Reliefs are available for film, animation, high-end television, children’s television and video game production, as well as for theatre, orchestra performances, and museums and galleries exhibitions. More recently, the Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit and the Video Games Expenditure Credit have been introduced, offering an alternative credit-based system for eligible productions.

To qualify for CITR, films, television programmes and video games must meet specific cultural criteria. This is usually achieved by passing a formal ‘cultural test’, which assesses various factors such as content, setting and the nationality of key personnel. Alternatively, a production may qualify through an internationally agreed co-production treaty. Meeting these requirements allows the production to be certified as a British film, British programme or British video game.

Certification is administered by the British Film Institute (BFI) on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The BFI can issue an interim certificate while production is ongoing, followed by a final certificate once the project has been completed. This certification is a key requirement for claiming the relevant tax reliefs.