Unless you have the time, skills and patience to do it yourself, you are likely to need an accountant to prepare your books.
Accountants are not cheap, film tax accountants even less so! One way of reducing the cost is to get your local accountant to prepare your books and then ask a film tax specialist to complete the actual submission. Dave Morrison from Nyman Libson Paul states:
| “Apart from the costs of preparing accounts, the additional cost of preparing a UK Film Tax Credit claim based on these accounts could cost anything from £500 to several thousand pounds depending on the complexity of the claim. A small UK short might be at the bottom end of this range but if the claim is not readily accepted by HMRC there are likely to be further costs in arguing the case” |
£500 on the low end may sound very affordable but I would echo Dave’s caveat regarding possible rejection by the HMRC. The application process should be seen less as a form-filling exercise and more as presenting a case.
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