Extra funding, without any catches and a relatively straightforward eligibility criteria sounds great, right? Perhaps even too good to be true, but it does exist. 

Take, for example, the creative industries tax relief scheme. Open to charities and charity subsidiaries, the scheme exists to provide tax reliefs in the form of corporation tax credits that can be taken as a cash payment straight into your bank account. Essentially, it works by allowing qualifying organisations within the creative and artistic sectors to claim an additional deduction against their taxable profits or, for loss making events, claim a cash refund for part of the loss at set rates. 

Already, higher rates are temporarily in place for events that enter production up until March 31, 2025, after which point, the scheme is being made permanent at 40% and 45% (non-touring / touring). These are significantly higher rates than when the scheme was first introduced; indeed, at the time it was anticipated that the scheme would taper out after a period. Its permanence, therefore, offers fantastic benefits to qualifying organisations.  

This is money on the table waiting to be claimed, yet HMRC’s own figures show the number of applications for these reliefs have never recovered to pre-Covid levels. That’s potential cash injections that creative industry organisations are missing out on and that’s a massive, missed opportunity. 

If you’re operating in a theatre, opera, museum, art gallery or an orchestra, or maybe you just put on exhibitions, shows or concerts, we’d argue that you’re going to want to take notice of this scheme and the team at Sayer Vincent can help. 

Importantly, despite falling applications to the scheme, it shouldn’t be view as an insurmountable challenge to tackle. 

Of course, the process for claiming does demand a level of administrative investment on your part and when that’s a relatively small set-up, there may simply not be available time or expertise to manage this.  

Then there’s a degree of risk – or perceived risk – in claiming. The claim must be accurate, the organisation must qualify, and the events themselves must comply with specific requirements and so when added together, spending the time to make sure you’re jumping through the right hoops might feel too much, or too risky.  

However, we’re confident that the rewards could easily outweigh the effort, besides if you don’t ask, you don’t get! 

There’s a wealth of support and guidance out there to give you a better idea of the potential you could be sitting on. The Arts Council has a downloadable guide for Museums and Galleries relief, and the Charity Tax Group has set out the eligibility criteria for Theatres and Orchestras tax relief. On top of that HMRC has detailed manuals which set out clearly which events and expenditure qualifies for each relief. 

And then of course, there’s the team at Sayer Vincent. We can discuss any concerns you may have and help you arrive at the right figures. We specialise in creative tax credits and have supported many clients make successful claims. In this environment it is worth claiming every penny available to charities and this is a very useful relief for qualifying organisations. 

So, what are you waiting for? Get in touch today! 

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