650 productions claim UK Film Tax relief since inception

The UK government’s revenue department has released figures summarising the effect of the UK film tax relief since its inception in January 2007.

The figures reveal that 650 film productions have made 1080 claims, for a total £645m. So far 955 claims by 585 films have received payments totalling £570m.

Claims by £20m+ budget films, which include Captain America, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two, Hugo and Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, totalled £390million, with smaller budget films totalling £255million. The average payment per large budget film was £3.7m with the average payment per lower budget film adding up to £0.3m.

Payments to large-budget films totalled £340m, and to limited-budget films, £230m.

Total production expenditure by films claiming the relief was £5.0 billion, of which 75% was incurred in the UK.  Production expenditure on large-budget films averaged £82.9m per film, and £2.5m for limited-budget films.

Film financing expert John Graydon of accountancy firm RSM Tenon said: “This is great news for filmmakers and for the U.K. economy. It demonstrates that filmmakers are using the film tax relief more than ever.  A study into the economic impact of the tax relief found that for every £1 ($1.5) paid out in tax relief, £13 ($20) was contributed to the UK’s GDP.”