CREC028000 - Qualifying productions: British productions

Certification as British 

Only films, TV programmes and video games that have been certified as a British film, TV programme or video game are eligible for the Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit (AVEC) and the Video Games Expenditure Credit (VGEC). Such certification may either be interim, if the production has not been completed, or final, if it has. 

Films and TV programmes can be certified as British by one of two routes: 

  • certification as a qualifying co-production (CREC010300) 

  • passing the applicable Cultural Test 

Video games must pass the Cultural Test for video games. 

In all cases, the production must be formally certified to qualify for AVEC/VGEC. It is not sufficient for the production company merely to assert that it is an official co-production or meets one of the Cultural Tests. 

The previous certification of an earlier, related production – for example, an earlier series of a TV programme – is no guarantee that a subsequent production will qualify, as the Cultural Test will need to be met for each production without reference to any other production.


Certifying authority 

A British production is one which is certified as such by the Secretary of State for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport under 

  • Schedule 1 of the Films Act 1985, 

  • sections 1179DK to 1179DM of the Corporation Tax Act (CTA) 2009, or 

  • sections 1179FD to 1179FF of CTA 2009. 

The Secretary of State certifies films on the advice of the BFI Certification Unit. Queries concerning certification should be directed to the Unit at certifications@bfi.org.uk. 

Information about certification and the link to make an application can be found on the BFI website: Apply for British certification and tax relief | BFI 


Interim and final certificates 

The onus is on the production company to ensure that the relevant qualifying criteria with regard to the production are met. If a production is treated as a British production on an interim basis and does not receive a final certificate, any expenditure credits received will be withdrawn. 

Where an interim claim for credit has been paid by HMRC to the production company, the production company must apply for a final certificate from the BFI once the production has been completed. The final certificate must be submitted to HMRC with the claim for the completion period (the period in which the production is completed). 

If the production company does not submit a final certificate, then any credits paid on the basis of the interim certificate are no longer due and will have to be repaid to HMRC by the production company. 

The only exception to this is where the production is abandoned. In that instance, an interim certificate is still required, but not a final certificate.