LONDON: Government plans to extend tax breaks for the British film industry have been approved by the EU.
Under the scheme, film production companies can claim tax relief of 25% payable towards the cost of production.
Chancellor George Osborne said he hoped the move – first announced in the Budget – would help attract more blockbuster productions to the UK.
But it needed to be passed by the EU under state-aid rules that control government support for companies.
EU state-aid rules control the giving of a competitive advantage to companies through government support.
The new tax relief will now apply to films of all budgets, where previously the 25% relief was only offered to movies with a budget over £20m. Smaller productions received a 20% rate of tax relief.
The British Film Institute said the expansion of the tax relief put all productions on “a parity” with each other.
Recent British film successes that would have benefited from the new rate include Far From the Madding Crowd and Woman in Black
