The Chancellor announced in today's Autumn Statement that Creative Sector Tax Reliefs will be extended to include the production of children's television programmes from April 2015. As with other creative sector tax reliefs, it is expected that productions will benefit from a tax credit for qualifying expenditure, with the rate set at 25%. There will be a consultation into a similar relief for orchestras, with a view to its introduction from April 2016.

Sally Jones, tax director at Deloitte, comments:

"Ofcom figures show that our children watch almost 17 hours of television per week. Measures that encourage the production of high quality, educational and also entertaining programmes, is great news. The UK has a great track record of doing just that – (the Teletubbies, for example, were and still are cutting-edge) – but most children's programmes make little, if any, money. The new tax relief will allow programmes to be commissioned that otherwise wouldn't be made.

"Orchestral performances have been theatre's Cinderella since the Chancellor announced a tax relief for theatrical productions at the 2014 Budget. It is good to see that our world-class orchestras will enjoy similar support from 2016 – although operas and ballets already qualify for theatre tax relief and won't get both.

"State aid approval will no doubt be needed from the European Commission. All of the UK's other creative sector tax reliefs have indeed been state aid approved."

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