The UK film and TV industry will be sighing with disappointment following a highly-anticipated budget that delivered nothing in terms of tax credit demands.
Various bodies, unions and major figures were demanding improvements to the high-end TV tax credit and also pushing for a new credit that would help with the distribution and marketing of indie films.
However, there was thin gruel in today’s budget, with scant mention for the TV and film industry or for institutions like the BBC, which has been in turmoil these past weeks. The BBC was not mentioned once in the 150-page budget document.
UK actors union Equity called the budget a “damp squib.”
“The Chancellor had the opportunity to deliver structural change through this budget for the performing arts and entertainment industries’ workforce,” said Equity General Secretary Paul Fleming. “The Government has opted to maintain tax reliefs, rather than set out a long-term plan for public funding of the arts which would address the root cause of creeping precarity in a critical sector for the UK economy.”
For months in the run up to the budget, key players in the industry have been asking for improvements to the successful high-end TV tax credit, which pays out around 25% for shows costing more than £1M ($1.32M) per hour. Storied industry figures like Doctor Who producer Jane Tranter and Black Doves EP Jane Featherstone have urged the credit to be upgraded from its current level of around 25% to 40%, while comedy makers and those producing cheaper drama have called for its qualifying floor to be lowered to around the £500,000 to £750,000 per hour mark.
Elsewhere, the influential Culture, Media & Sport Committee submitted plans for a 25% tax relief for the print and advertising costs of indie movies. This was also not forthcoming in UK chancellor Rachel Reeves’ budget. A British Film Institute (BFI) spokeswoman said the body is “supportive” of this proposal and will “continue to work closely with Government and industry to explore ways to improve conditions for UK independent film across the value chain.”
The lack of tax credit news may not come as a huge surprise to the industry. The government only recently rubberstamped tax credits for indie movies and VFX. Speaking to Deadline several months back, Culture Minister Chris Bryant said plenty of stakeholders had “made representations” on tax credits but “I haven’t seen the stats that make this add up.”
Philippa Childs, who runs broadcasting union Bectu, called out the budget for inaction on the ailing freelance workforce. While praising Reeves for providing additional help for those on lower incomes, she said the government has “once again largely overlooked self-employed and freelance workers.”
The BFI, meanwhile, welcomed “continued business rates relief for film studios in England”
The budget was preceded by an extraordinary situation that saw the UK’s Office for Budget Responsibility accidentally publish its response to the document two hours before it was supposed to be delivered in parliament. This left the ruling Labor Party scrabbling.
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