Corporation Tax Act 2009 section 1179DJA

Films: certification as low-budget film

Section 1179DJA establishes a certification process for films to qualify as low-budget films, which requires meeting both a budget condition and a creative connection condition, and sets out the rules for granting, surrendering and using such certificates.

• A film can be certified as a low-budget film alongside its British film certification, provided the applicant specifically requests this and the Secretary of State is satisfied that both a budget condition and a creative connection condition are met.
• The budget condition, set out in regulations, requires that specified expenditure on the film (whether actually incurred or anticipated) does not exceed a prescribed amount; the creative connection condition requires that at least one key creative contributor (such as the director or scriptwriter) is a British citizen or ordinarily resident in the UK, or that the film is a qualifying co-production.
• A low-budget certificate cannot coexist with another standard British film certificate or a television programme certificate for the same film, and the production company may voluntarily surrender a low-budget certificate, which then ceases to have effect for all accounting periods.
• A film is treated as a certified low-budget film for an accounting period if the production company's corporation tax return for that period is accompanied by a valid low-budget certificate on the day the return is submitted.

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