Support for high growth creative industries in 2024 Spring Budget

The UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt MP has announced measures in the 2024 UK Spring Budget to support future growth in the creative industries and recognise their contribution to national life.

The Budget announcement encompassed over £1 billion of new tax reliefs over several years for the UK’s world-leading creative industries. It included introducing a 40% relief from business rates for eligible film studios in England for the next 10 years, a new UK Independent Film Tax Credit; increasing the rate of tax credit by 5% and removing the 80% cap for visual effects costs in the Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit.

A permanent extension will be made to tax relief for theatres, orchestras, museums and galleries, and funding will be provided to upgrade the National Theatre’s stages and infrastructure.

As part of the announcement, the government said it was committed to the success of creative industries, a sector that contributed £125 billion in Gross Value Added (GVA) in 2022 and employs 2.4 million people across the UK, according to official statistics. In 2023, the government and the Creative Industries Council published a sector vision which set out ambitions to grow the creative industries by a further £50 billion in GVA and support an additional 1 million jobs.

The new package is designed to provide support across the whole UK screen industry, ensuring it remains competitive internationally and realises its true potential.

Announcing the measures, the Chancellor said the UK had become Europe’s largest film and TV production centre with Idris Elba, Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom all filming their latest productions here.

He said: "Studio space in the UK has doubled in the last three years. At the current rate of expansion, we will be second only to Hollywood globally by the end of 2025."

Mr Hunt also said he wanted to recognise the contribution of the UK creative industries and tourism made by orchestras, museums, galleries and theatres.

He added: "In the pandemic we introduced higher 45% and 50% levels of tax relief which were due to end in March 2025. It has been a lifeline for performing arts across the country.

"Today in recognition of their vital importance to our national life, I can announce I am making those tax reliefs permanent at 45% for touring and orchestral productions and 40% for non-touring productions. Lord Lloyd Webber says this will be a once in a generation transformational change that will ensure Britain remains the global capital of creativity."

Welcoming the measures, Sir Peter Bazalgette, Industry Co-Chair of the Creative Industries Council, said: "The Chancellor and the Culture Secretary have delivered for the creative industries, one of the government's priority sectors for growth.  Measures to help screen, theatre, museums & galleries, and orchestras will all help our growth and delivery of both social and economic value.”

Main Budget measures related to the UK creative industries ‍

• Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit: Enhanced credit for UK independent film: A UK Independent Film Tax Credit will be introduced at a rate of 53% on qualifying film production expenditure. This enhanced Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit will be available for films with budgets under £15 million that meet the requirements of a new British Film Institute test. Productions can make claims from 1 April 2025, in respect of expenditure incurred from 1 April 2024 onwards provided that films started principal photography from 1 April 2024.

• Business rates: Film Studios Relief: Eligible film studios in England will receive a 40% reduction on gross business rates bills until 2034. The relief will be implemented as soon as possible, and bills will be backdated to 1 April 2024. This is a tax cut worth around £470 million over the next 10 years. Studios will remain eligible for Improvement Relief. English Local Authorities will be fully compensated for the loss of income as a result of this relief and will receive new burdens funding for administrative and IT costs.

• Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit: Additional tax relief for visual effects: Following a call for evidence at Autumn Statement 2023, the credit rate for visual effects costs in film and high-end TV will be increased to 39% from April 2025, and the 80% cap will be removed for qualifying expenditure for visual effects costs. The government will consult on the types of expenditure that will be in scope of the additional tax relief and implement the measure through a future Finance Bill.

• Theatre Tax Relief (TTR), Orchestra Tax Relief (OTR) and Museums and Galleries Exhibitions Tax Relief (MGETR): From 1 April 2025, the rates of TTR, OTR and MGETR will be permanently set at 40% (for non-touring productions) and 45% for touring productions and all orchestra productions. The sunset clause for MGETR will be removed.

• National Theatre funding: The government is providing £26.4 million to upgrade the National Theatre’s stages and infrastructure.

Read the Chancellor's speech or the government's announcement.