Tax credits scare off Hollywood
Hollywood movies moving away from UK due to uncertainty over tax credits
Hollywood movies moving away from UK due to uncertainty over tax credits
The UK film industry has lost out on producing upcoming Hollywood
spectaculars such as Casino Royale and Tulip Fever due to uncertainty over film
tax credit policy.
Following the government’s crackdown on abuse of the film tax credits,
production in the UK has plummeted, and concerns abound that a looser policy
will not be introduced in the pre-Budget report.
Film production has plummeted in the UK over the last year to just £480m,
according to the Film Council.
US films have been produced in countries offering greater subsidies,
including Czech Republic, Canada and New Zealand, the Financial Times
reported.
Industry executives said the UK could offer tax credits equivalent to a 14%
subsidy of the total film budget, where other countries offered nearer to 20%.
The next James Bond movie, Casino Royale, will be limited to one weeks’
shooting in the UK. Officials have also expressed worries that the sequel to
Batman Begins, the first of which was filmed in the UK, will go abroad.
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