Scared Goose Entertainment
AVEC & IFTC · Updated for 2026

UK tax relief calculator

How much of your film's budget comes back if you shoot in the UK? Put in your numbers and see both schemes side by side, from a line producer who claims them for a living.

Work it out →
01

Your numbers

For the 53% independent film rate

Both schemes also need the film to pass the BFI cultural test (or qualify as an official co-production) and a UK production company to claim. BFI certification.

Best option
£0

cash back after tax

Independent Film Tax Credit 53%

Credit before tax
£0
Cash after 25% tax
£0

Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit 34%

Credit before tax
£0
Cash after 25% tax
£0

Get a real UK budget →

An estimate, not tax advice. It assumes the credit is taxed at the 25% main rate and leaves out the visual effects uplift and any Screen Scotland funding, which can add to the total. Your accountant and the BFI confirm the final figure.

02

How it's worked out

Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit (AVEC)

34% of qualifying UK spend. Qualifying spend is your UK core spend, capped at 80% of the total core budget. At least 10% of the core budget has to be spent in the UK. The credit is taxable, so a film shot entirely in the UK gets back about 20.4% of its budget in cash.

Independent Film Tax Credit (IFTC)

An enhanced 53% rate for independent films with a core budget of £23.5m or less. It only counts the first £15m of the budget, so the credit before tax tops out at £6.36m. The film needs a UK writer or director (or to be an official UK co-production), has to be made for cinemas, and principal photography must have started on or after 1 April 2024. A film shot entirely in the UK on £15m or less gets back about 31.8% of its budget in cash.

Which one applies?

You claim one or the other. The calculator works out both and picks the larger. Between £15m and about £23.4m the independent rate usually still wins; above that, the standard rate pays more.

What counts as core budget?

Pre-production, principal photography and post-production. Development, marketing, distribution and financing costs don't count, and neither does anything used or consumed outside the UK.

03

Make it real

i

UK budget & schedule

A full UK budget and shooting schedule for your script, built by a working line producer with current Scotland and UK crew and location rates, and the tax relief worked out line by line. £3,000, details here, or send the script below.

ii

Budget template pack

A ready-to-use UK budget and schedule template with Scotland rates, for producers who want to do it themselves. Coming soon. Get told when it's out.

Want the real numbers?

Send us your script

Glasgow, Scotland · Send the script and your dates