CREC082000 - Claims: Company Tax Return overview

Claims for the Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit (AVEC) and the Video Games Expenditure Credit (VGEC) can only be made through Corporation Tax Self-Assessment (CTSA).

This means that claims must be made in reference to an accounting period, and a company must file a Company Tax Return with HMRC (form CT600). The return must be accompanied by the company’s accounts for the accounting period.

Claims can be made either in an original return or via an amendment to a return. However, claims must be made digitally through the online Corporation Tax gateway (GOV.UK). Claims in any other format (e.g. via email) will not be accepted.

The date of the claim is the date that the tax return is filed to HMRC. However, the claim will only be valid if all the mandatory information and the additional information form have been supplied, either prior to or on the same day as the return is filed.

If there is mandatory information missing when the return is filed, or the information form has not been submitted, then the claim is invalid and HMRC will amend the return to remove the claim.

If the missing information or form is submitted after the date the return is filed, then the company’s tax return must be amended and the claim re-submitted (even if no changes are required to the CT600), in order for it to be recognised as a valid claim by HMRC. The date of the claim will be the date of the amendment.


Please note: Under the predecessor creative tax reliefs, the British cultural certificate would have been submitted as an attachment to the CT600. This will no longer be accepted by HMRC; the certificate must now be attached to the additional information form in order for the form (and therefore the claim) to be valid.


To make a claim for AVEC or VGEC, the ‘Information about enhanced expenditure’ section of the CT600 must be completed. The default online filing service (CATO) will not have access to this section, so specialist software is required. A list of recognised suppliers that provide software for tax returns and supplementary pages is available at Corporation Tax: commercial software suppliers (GOV.UK). Questions about the software being used should be directed to the software or service provider.

The boxes on the CT600 relevant to claims for creatives reliefs or credits are as follows:

  • 540 Creatives tax credit
  • 545 Amount claimed
  • 570 Amount payable
  • 665 Creatives qualifying expenditure and/or additional deduction
  • 670 Enhanced expenditure
  • 885 Payable creatives tax credit

Full details of what goes in each box is available at CREC083000.