Museum and Galleries Tax Relief Doubled
Museum And Galleries Tax Relief Doubled: What Does That Mean?
As part of the government’s Autumn Budget 2021, the Cultural Relief Rate has been temporarily doubled until April 2023. This includes the Museums and Galleries Exhibition Tax Relief (MGETR).
In this article, we will be breaking down the rate changes implemented and guiding you whether you meet the requirements to claim the MGETR.
What is the Museums and Galleries Exhibition Tax Relief (MGETR)?
MGETR scheme is aimed to provide support for museums and galleries, allowing them to develop new exhibitions and display collections to reach a wider audience and benefit the public.
The value of the relief:
There are two rates available for the MGETR. For the non-touring exhibitions, the qualifying expenditure has been increased to 45%, capped at £80,000 per exhibition. Whereas for the touring exhibition, it has been increased to 50% (available for both PPC and SPC*), and capped at £100,000 per exhibition, per venue.
The plan for the following years is to increase the MGTER rates for the next two years and eventually go back to the current rates by 2024:
What are the qualifying expenditures?
It needs to be taken into consideration that the qualifying expenditures applicable for the MGETR need to meet the following conditions:
Expenditure incurred must be made within the European Economic Area (EEA), with a minimum of 25% sped within the EEA
Expenditure must have been paid or subject of an unconditional obligation pay
Expenditure incurred for producing and uninstalling the exhibition at each venue are claimable
Who qualifies?
To qualify for the MGTER, you must be an Exhibition Production Company (EPC).
This means you are:
A charitable company that maintains a museum or gallery
Wholly owned by a:
the charity which maintains a museum or gallery
the local authority which maintains a museum or gallery
a charity formally recognized by the HMR
Identify as the Primary Production Company (PPC) or the Secondary Production Company (SPC)
*Primary Production Company (PPC) and Secondary Production Company (SPC): What’s the difference?
Primary Production Company (PPC)
If you are a Primary Production Company (PPC), you are responsible for organizing an exhibition at the first venue (touring) or only venue (non-touring).
The responsibilities would include:
Creative and Technical decisions
Contractual Agreements
Producing and running the exhibition
Uninstalling and closing the exhibition
Secondary Production Company (SPC)
If you are a Secondary Production Company (SPC), you are responsible for organizing an exhibition at the second or any following venues for a touring exhibition.
The responsibilities would include:
Production and running the exhibition of the venue
Deinstalling the exhibition at that venue
You cannot be both a PPC and an SPC for the same exhibition.
What exhibitions qualify?
The exhibition must be accessible and open to the public to qualify for the MGETR. However, it does not matter if there are any admission fees or not.
A qualifying exhibition must meet the following criteria:
It is an arranged public display or organized collection of objects and works considered to be scientific, historic, artistic, or of cultural interest
It can be a single object
It must be at least 25% of core expenditure spent on goods/services that are provided within the European Economic Area (EEA)
(Core expenditure to be spent on either producing the exhibition or uninstalling and closing the exhibition, if open for a year or less)
A qualifying touring exhibition must meet the following criteria:
The exhibition is held at more than one venue
At least 25% of objects or works displayed must also be exhibited at every following venue
No more than 6 months
' gap between uninstalling at one venue and installing at the next.
There must be a Primary Production Company (PPC) within the charge of Corporation Tax, for the exhibition
The PPC was be involved in the planning stage that the exhibition will be touring
What exhibitions are excluded from MGETR?
An exhibition will fail to meet the criteria for claiming relief if it is
Organized in association with a competition
Intention and main purpose are selling the displayed objects or works
Any part of the display is alive
Includes a live performance
Less than 25% of ‘core’ expenditure incurred is EEA expenditure
How to apply?
Museums and Galleries Exhibition Tax Relief can be claimed under the Company Tax Return. You would have to calculate:
Additional deduction due to your company
Any payable credit due
You will also need to provide:
Statements of the total core expenditure (EEA and non-EEA expenditure separated)
Breakdown of expenditure by category
It needs to be taken into consideration that the rate increase is only applicable for production activities that begin on or after 27 October 2021.