Corporation Tax Act 2009 section 1193

Pre-trading expenditure

Section 1193 allows a company to treat expenditure incurred on developing a film before the separate film trade begins as if it were incurred on the first day of that trade.

• Expenditure on film development incurred before the separate film trade starts can be treated as if spent on the day the trade begins
• This ensures that early development costs are not lost for tax purposes simply because they arose before the trade formally commenced
• If the expenditure has already been claimed or used in a previous tax return, the company must amend that return to remove the earlier claim
• The amendment to the earlier return can be made at any time, even if the normal time limit for amending returns has passed