Kids producers in beleaguered Britain can breathe a little easier today as the UK government announces reforms to its screen-based media incentives scheme.
The changes were announced in the newest UK budget and see various individual streams merged together under a new streamlined program called the Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit (AVEC).
Kids TV and animation stand to benefit, with UK-based productions or coproductions eligible for up to 39% back against qualifying spend. Previously, the Children’s Television Tax Relief (CTTR), enacted in 2015, was a 20%-25% rebate scheme effective against either a company’s overall profit (20% deduction) or qualifying production spend (25% rebate).
The new AVEC credit replaces the current schemes for high-end TV, kids TV and animation effective as of April 1, 2024. The announcement from the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt also included a new Video Games Expenditure Credit of 34% of qualifying spend and upped the high-end TV credit to 34% with no changes to the minimum spend. Both models will have an 80% cap on qualifying expenditure.
The UK government held extensive consultations on reforms to the credits, releasing a 25-page report in fall 2022.