Film and TV incentive in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom runs the Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit (AVEC): a tax credit worth 34%, 25.5% after tax. A credit against tax, claimed through a return. It is reliable, but it arrives after the filing rather than during the shoot, and in some countries it is itself taxable.
The numbers
- Scheme
- Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit (AVEC)
- Type
- Tax credit
- Headline rate
- 34% (25.5% after tax)
- Minimum local spend
- At least 10% of core spend in the UK; high-end TV at least £1m per broadcast hour
- Cap per project
- No cap; qualifying spend limited to 80% of core expenditure
- Funding
- Entitlement Statutory credit, no annual budget
- Paid
- After the corporation tax return
- Foreign spend qualifies
- No
- Currency
- GBP
Higher rates and tiers
- Independent Film Tax Credit (53%, 39.75% net) for films with a core budget up to £23.5m, paid on the first £15m of core expenditure
What this means for the cashflow
If the production qualifies, the money follows. No queue, no annual pot. The production carries the gap until the money arrives, and that is a financing question rather than a budget line.
When it pays: After the corporation tax return.
The detail
The credit is taxable, so 34% is worth 25.5% net. 39% for animation, children's TV and UK VFX work (VFX is exempt from the 80% cap). 53% for independent films with a core budget up to £23.5m, on the first £15m of spend. Qualifying spend is limited to 80% of core expenditure. The old film and HETV reliefs close on 1 April 2027.
What you have to submit
AVEC stencil (Excel), BFI. A calculation sheet for the claim, giving HMRC the expenditure statement it needs. Not a budgeting format: budget in your own layout and split UK and non-UK core expenditure.
Building the budget first? Use the free film budget template or the Budget Builder, then map it onto whatever the fund asks for.
How it compares
Counted on the best rate a production can reach after tax, United Kingdom sits at number 7 of the 32 European schemes we track (39.8%). Work out the net value on your own spend, side by side with up to two other countries, in the incentive comparison.
Pays more
Pays less
Other tax credit schemes
- Ireland 32%
- France 30% (40% VFX-heavy)
- Spain (mainland) 30% / 25%
- Canary Islands (Spain) 50% / 45%
- Italy 40%
Shooting there
We list 344 places to shoot in United Kingdom and 113 studios, production companies and post houses, each checked on its own site.
Source
Figures taken from BFI and checked on 2026-09-05. Incentives change: confirm the current terms with the fund before you commit a budget to them.
All 32 incentives · Compare them on your own spend · Locations by country