How to Make a Theatre Tax Relief Claim

Theatre production companies that already know they qualify for Theatre Tax Relief tend to get stuck at the same point: not whether they're eligible, but what actually needs submitting, in what order, and by when.

This guide walks through a TTR claim from confirming eligibility to receiving payment, in the order HMRC expects to see it.

Step 1: Confirm your production and company qualify

Before anything else, your company needs to be a Theatrical Production Company, directly responsible for producing and running the show, not simply funding or promoting it. The production itself must meet the commercial purpose condition: performed live to paying members of the public, or staged wholly or mainly for educational purposes. On top of that, a minimum of 10% of your core expenditure must be UK expenditure (this was 25% European Economic Area expenditure for accounting periods ending before 1 April 2024, before the rules moved to a UK-only test).

Unlike film, TV or animation reliefs, TTR doesn't require BFI certification or a cultural test. That trips up some producers coming to theatre from another creative tax relief. There's no separate certification body to satisfy here, just the conditions above.

For the full breakdown, including what's excluded, read our guide to which productions qualify for Theatre Tax Relief.

Step 2: Work out your qualifying and core expenditure

Core expenditure covers what you spend producing and closing the production, from design and construction through to the point it opens (plus exceptional running costs, such as recasting a role partway through the run). Ongoing running costs of a production once it's up and performing don't count as core expenditure, and nor does marketing.

In practice, this means set design, costumes, rehearsal costs and the company costs tied directly to getting the production on stage are all in scope. General running costs and promotional spend aren't, nor are any development costs before your production is green-lit.

You can claim relief on the lower of two figures: 80% of your total core expenditure, or your actual UK (or EEA, for earlier periods) core expenditure. This is the 80% cap referenced in the calculation below, and it applies even if all your spend genuinely qualifies.

For the full cost-by-cost breakdown, see our complete guide to eligible costs for Theatre Tax Relief.

Step 3: Calculate your additional deduction and Theatre Tax Credit

The claiming mechanism works in two steps.

1. Your additional deduction is calculated on UK (or EEA) core expenditure, up to the 80% cap.
2. If that deduction creates a loss, you can surrender some or all of it for a payable Theatre Tax Credit at the applicable rate.

From 1 April 2025, the Theatre Tax Credit rate is 45% for touring productions and 40% for non-touring productions, applied to your surrenderable loss. These are now permanent rates, not another temporary step, which makes them worth building into your longer-term planning rather than treating as a moving target.

The rate that actually applied before 1 April 2025 depends on when your production entered its production phase, not simply the calendar date of your claim:

For most companies claiming now, the rate that matters is the current permanent one. For the full comparison, including how the touring definition itself is applied, see our guide to touring vs non-touring productions.

For example:

Company A runs a non-touring production with £100,000 of total core costs, all of it UK expenditure. The production breaks even by the end of the accounting period. The 80% cap gives an additional deduction of £80,000. Surrendered at the current 40% non-touring rate, that's a £32,000 cash credit.

A profitable company gets the same relief through a different route:

Using the same figures, the £80,000 additional deduction reduces taxable profit by £80,000 rather than being surrendered. At a 25% Corporation Tax rate, that's a £20,000 reduction in the company's tax bill.

Which route you get depends on whether the production company is loss-making at the point of claiming, and this is where structure matters. Companies that run each production through its own Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) will always be loss-making on that production specifically, and so will get the higher-value cash credit rather than a CT saving. This video explains how that works in practice.

Step 4: Complete the Additional Information Form (AIF)

Every TTR claim made on or after 1 April 2024 needs a completed Additional Information Form submitted to HMRC before or alongside your Company Tax Return. File the CT600 without it, and HMRC will remove the TTR claim entirely, not simply query it.

For each production, the form needs:

• Applicant and company details
• A breakdown of expenditure and credit calculations for each production
• Budget information
• UK (or EEA, for earlier periods) core expenditure figures
• For multi-period or touring productions, a touring schedule and estimated figures where final costs aren't yet known

The AIF has eight sections in total. Six are mandatory for cultural reliefs like TTR, with two further sections only relevant if you're also claiming another creative industry relief. The theatre-specific sections sit apart from the general creative reliefs sections, so work through them methodically rather than assuming the same answers carry across.

For a full walkthrough of the form itself, read our guide to Creative Tax Reliefs and the Additional Information Form, and submit it through HMRC's Additional Information Form service.

Step 5: File your Company Tax Return with the CT600 and CT600P

The AIF alone doesn't complete your claim. The same figures also need to go into your Company Tax Return, using the "Information about enhanced expenditure" section of the CT600, plus the CT600P Creative Industries supplementary page. The CT600P is where the expenditure detail lives: your core expenditure, additional deduction and surrendered loss figures all need to be reported there.

For the form-by-form detail on what's changed and what each field needs, read our guide to the new CT600P form for creative sector tax reliefs.

How long do you have to make a claim?

The time limit depends on the length of your accounting period. For periods of 18 months or less (which covers most claims) you have two years from the end of the period of account. For longer periods, you have 42 months from the start of the period of account.

If you've seen guidance elsewhere referencing a one-year limit from the company's filing date, that's the old rule; it applies to accounting periods beginning before 1 April 2024.

When will you receive your Theatre Tax Credit?

If you still owe Corporation Tax for the period, the additional deduction reduces that bill straight away. Where a cash credit or a refund of tax already paid is due instead, it arrives once HMRC has reviewed your claim, usually within a matter of weeks rather than months.

A few things can delay or reduce what you actually receive:

• Outstanding Corporation Tax, PAYE or National Insurance liabilities. HMRC offsets the credit against these first, before paying out any balance
• An open enquiry into your Corporation Tax return, though HMRC can still make partial payments while an enquiry is ongoing
• Your company being in administration or liquidation

None of this should be read as a reason to expect delay by default. Companies with clean tax affairs and a properly evidenced claim are generally paid without complication.

Claiming Theatre Tax Relief as a not-for-profit

Charitable and not-for-profit theatre companies can claim Theatre Tax Relief too, but questions about eligibility and company structure come up more often for this group than for commercial producers.

Read our piece on why charities aren't claiming their full entitlement to creative sector tax relief if that's your situation.

Key takeaways

• Confirm eligibility first. Your company needs Theatrical Production Company status, the production needs to meet the commercial purpose condition, and a minimum of 10% of core expenditure needs to be UK (or 25% EEA) expenditure.
• The 80% cap applies to every claim. You can only claim relief on the lower of 80% of total core expenditure or your actual UK (or EEA) core expenditure.
• Current rates are permanent, not temporary. Touring and non-touring productions now have a fixed rate rather than a rate that steps down again.
• The AIF is mandatory and separate from your Company Tax Return. Submit it before or alongside your CT600, not as an afterthought.
• The CT600P carries your detailed figures. The AIF and the CT600 alone aren't enough without it.
• Your claim window depends on your accounting period length, not a fixed date, so check which limit applies to you before assuming you've missed it.
• How your company is structured affects what you actually receive. A loss-making production is more likely to get the cash credit rather than a Corporation Tax saving.

If you'd like Myriad to review your claim before you file, or handle the submission from start to finish, get in touch and we'll talk you through it.