Orchestra
Tax Relief
how much you could receive
What Is Orchestra Tax Relief?
Everything you need to know
Orchestra Tax Relief is a governmental incentive that allows orchestras, as well as other instrumental groups, to claim a percentage of their production costs in the form of a payable tax credit or a reduction in Corporation Tax liability.
Although the incentive specifically refers to orchestras, you do not need to be a traditional orchestra to qualify for this incentive. You can be an instrumental group and still claim Orchestra Tax Relief, as long as you meet the rest of the requirements of the incentive.
The maximum amount that you can claim is 50 million euros.
Benefits Of Orchestra tax Relief
It’s important to point out that you do not need to be paying tax in order to claim the incentive!
Your instrumental group or orchestra does not need to pass the cultural test; a large portion of the incentives under the Creative Tax umbrella requires companies to pass the cultural test accredited by the British Film Institute (BFI), Orchestra Tax Relief is not one of them.
The incentive eligibility is not dependent on whether you are performing to a specific type of audience, what it is that you are performing or how advanced your instrumentalists are. Orchestra Tax Relief is there to encourage events to be curated, and it does that by offering you a percentage of production costs with the hope you will reinvest this money into future shows and events.
You are able to claim this incentive every year. Even when you have done shows within the year that aren’t eligible, you are still able to claim costs back for the productions that do meet the eligibility criteria.
How Much Can I Claim
In normal circumstances, you are able to increase the tax credit rate to 25%. However, the finance bill 2022 revealed that this will increase to 50% before reducing to 35% on the 1st of April 2023, and back down to 25% on 1st of April 2023. These changes have been implemented to reduce the impact that the pandemic has had on the sector and to encourage the sector to continue operating and boosting the economy.
Orchestra Tax Relief Eligibility Criteria
- Your company or enterprise must be in charge of making creative as well as technical decisions for your production in all of its stages
- The production must include at least 12 instrumentalists and be mainly performed by humans
- Most of the instruments should not be electronically amplified
- Your performance should be either performed by an orchestra, band, or an ensemble
- The commercial conditions of your production must be met i.e., most of your live performances should be intended for a paying audience
Qualifying Expenditure
In order to qualify for Orchestra Tax Relief, you would have had to spent money in the right areas.
For example:
- The money for which you can claim back needed to have been spent on the creation and the development of your performance.
- 25% of your core expenditure must be within the European Economic Area (EEA), although the rest can be spent in any country.
- Your artist fees can be claimed for.
- As well as rehearsal costs which include venue hire and relevant money spent on travel within the UK.
Costs that don’t qualify:
- You are unable to claim for costs associated with the actual performance.
- Any expenditure that you’ve already claim for through another incentive, for example R&D Tax Credits, Theatre Tax Relief etc.
- Marketing, advertising, administration and accounting costs.
- Travel occurred outside of the UK.
COMPLEX TAX INVESTIGATIONS
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GOT A QUESTION?
If you are looking to action any of these tips in our guide or if have any other queries about tax and planning your finances for your future, our Private Client Tax team are here to help. Get in touch with a member of the team for an initial chat now.
OUR EXPERIENCE
At Churchill Tax we have extensive experience dealing with HMRC Investigations and we regularly deal with Tax Inspectors within HMRC’s Specialist Investigations and Local Compliance Fraud teams. Our people have worked in Tax Investigations teams at ‘Big 4’ accountancy firms, niche tax investigations practices and within HMRC as Tax Inspectors. At Churchill Tax, our personal, friendly and understanding approach ensures that we provide the best possible service at the most competitive prices.
How Does Churchill Tax Handle My Claim?
1. Getting To Know You
2. Evaluating Your Costs
We will request your financials to evaluate your costs and calculate your benefit
3. Writing Your Claim
We will write the claim for you which you can look over before submission to HMRC – you can be as involved in the process of writing your claim as you want to be.
4. Rewards
Receive your benefit in either a reduction in your Corporation Tax liability or a payable credit
WHAT WE OFFER
When appointing a Tax specialist to act on your behalf, it’s important to know that you’re in good hands. You need to know that the advisor you appoint has the experience, skills and courage required to achieve the best possible outcome for you.
Our role is as much about supporting our clients personally as it is about providing professional and effective Tax representation. This is why we have implemented facilities such as flexible payment options , that aim to make the process straight forward and stress free.
Have you received a notification of HMRC investigation?
BOOK A CONSULTATION
Churchill Tax provides all types of tax advice on complex issues to individuals and companies across all sectors. We make the time and effort to understand our client’s businesses and needs and our tax experts have a proactive and flexible approach to helping clients overcoming the challenges they face.