Claiming Film Tax Relief

Film Tax Relief is a Corporation Tax relief that can significantly reduce the tax bill for qualifying film production companies. If your company produces British films for cinema release and meets specific criteria, you can claim an additional deduction against your Corporation Tax or even receive a payable tax credit if you make a loss.

Who can claim Film Tax Relief

Your company must be the film production company responsible for all key stages of production:

• Pre-production
• Principal photography
• Post-production
• Delivery of the completed film

Being the production company means more than just handling day-to-day tasks. Your company must be actively engaged in planning and decision-making, and must directly negotiate, contract and pay for rights, goods and services.

The cultural test and British certification

All films must be certified as British to qualify for the relief. Your film needs to either pass a cultural test or qualify through an internationally agreed co-production treaty.

The British Film Institute (BFI) manages the certification process on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. They will issue an interim certificate while production is ongoing, followed by a final certificate once production is complete.

Eligibility requirements for your film

To claim Film Tax Relief, your film must meet four conditions:

Certified as British – You need certification from the British Film Institute

Intended for theatrical release – The film must be planned for cinema distribution

At least 10% UK core costs – A minimum of 10% of your core costs must relate to activities carried out in the UK. Core costs are what you spend on pre-production, principal photography and post-production.

Principal photography started on or before 31 March 2025 – This is a critical deadline related to the closure of the scheme (explained below)

What you can claim

Film Tax Relief provides an additional deduction that you can use to reduce your taxable profits or increase a trading loss.

The additional deduction you can claim is the lower of:

• 80% of total core costs, or
• The amount of UK core costs

If your company makes a loss after claiming the additional deduction, you can surrender some or all of that loss for a payable tax credit. The tax credit rate is 25% of the surrenderable loss.

This means you could receive a cash payment from HMRC, which can be particularly valuable for production companies that don't have other taxable income to offset against.

When you can claim

The timing rules for making your claim depend on when your accounting period begins.

For accounting periods beginning before 1 April 2024, you can make, amend or withdraw a claim up to one year after your company's Corporation Tax filing date.

For accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2024, you have longer to claim – up to 2 years after the end of the period of account the claim relates to.

HMRC may accept late claims in some circumstances if you have a valid reason for missing the deadline.

How to make your claim

You claim Film Tax Relief on your Company Tax Return (form CT600). If you submit your return on or after 6 April 2026, you must include form CT600P – the Creative Industries supplementary page.

You need to calculate two amounts:

• The additional deduction due to your company
• Any payable credit due (if you're surrendering a loss)

You must also submit an additional information form as evidence to support your claim. For each production, you need to provide:

British cultural certificate – This must be from the British Film Institute. If you initially send an interim certificate, you must later send the final certificate after the film is complete. The certificate must be in date when you submit it.

Core costs statements – These should show the total amount of core costs, split between UK and non-UK costs

Cost breakdown – A breakdown of costs by category

The closure of Film Tax Relief

Film Tax Relief is being phased out. You cannot claim the relief for any productions that start principal photography after 31 March 2025.

The relief will close completely for all productions from 1 April 2027, even for films that started before the cut-off date.

If your production doesn't qualify for Film Tax Relief because it started principal photography after 31 March 2025, you may be able to claim Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit instead – a replacement relief with different rules and rates.

Further resources

HMRC provides detailed guidance and examples showing how the relief is calculated. You can find videos and webinars about creative industries tax relief on GOV.UK, as well as comprehensive technical guidance in the Film Production Company Manual.

The calculation of Film Tax Relief can be complex, particularly when determining which costs qualify as core costs and how to split them between UK and non-UK expenditure. Getting professional advice before claiming will help ensure you claim the maximum relief available and meet all the evidence requirements.

Sources

• Claiming Film Tax Relief for Corporation Tax
• Corporation Tax: Creative Industry tax reliefs
• Work out Creative Industry tax relief or expenditure credits for your production
• Support your claim for Creative Industry tax reliefs
• Claim Audio-Visual Expenditure Credits for Corporation Tax
• Company Tax Returns
• HMRC email updates, videos and webinars about creative industries reliefs and expenditure credits
• Film Production Company Manual

This article provides general guidance based on current HMRC rules. For advice specific to your situation, speak to your accountant.