Tax regime changes could hit new films

RECENT changes to Britain’s tax regime for film investments could undermine British-Irish co-production deals.

The bulk of pre-production work was done in Ireland on some films with editing and post-production done in Britain. This allowed investors to make use of Ireland’s tax relief and British rules that stipulate that as long as 20% of production is carried out in Britain, it qualifies for the full British tax relief.

Recent changes will mean tax relief will only apply to production costs incurred in Britain. This could make future co-productions financially unviable and encourage producers to go elsewhere, said Kieran Corrigan, chief executive of Merlin Films in Dublin.