A Theatre Tax Relief survey is being conducted by Nordicity, Ipsos, and Saffery LLP, as part of their review of the cultural tax reliefs. The review will inform the impact of the cultural tax reliefs on the UK economy, as well as outlining how these impacts have been affected by recent changes to the rates of the cultural tax reliefs on productions, exhibitions and displays and their audiences.
Outdoor Arts are often deemed ineligible for Theatre Tax Relief (TTR), so we would like to encourage our members and sector colleagues to take the survey to make our case for becoming eligible through this review. Getting access to tax relief would result in additional income that can be invested into new productions.
OutdoorArtsUK have sent the below response through the survey and to the TTR working group, which we are part of alongside colleagues from DCMS and National Arts Councils. You are welcome to use our response as context for your own response.
Deadline: 2 May 2025
Theatre Tax Relief does not effectively support Outdoor Arts and Circus
TTR has had very little impact on the Outdoor Arts and Circus sectors, due to TTR eligibility being exclusionary and old fashioned. We recommend HMRC to review the eligibility criteria immediately to reflect how contemporary performing arts in the UK functions in reality and the diversity of artforms and artists it includes.
Current rules on TTR excludes the Outdoor Arts sector because non-ticketed, free-to-access outdoor performances are ineligible for TTR. This is extremely unfair because companies who present work on these terms often do so in festivals, who pay the companies fees, which are taxable. TTR must reflect the reality of how the performing arts sector functions – ticket sales are not the only sources of income for performance work, so it should take this into account and include non-ticketed free outdoor festivals as eligible outlets for performances. These festivals are often publicly funded to take place in areas of low cultural engagement too, so making companies who tour to these circuits eligible for TTR would enable more underserved communities to gain access to high quality work.
Current rules also make wider performing arts genres like Circus are ineligible to claim TTR if it is not “scripted AND dramatic”. This makes it impossible for many contemporary circus companies to make a claim because much of their work are non-verbal. These companies may not use scripts, but they nevertheless make valuable artistic and/or social points to the audience. TTR currently gives Ballet and Contemporary Ballet a special exception – they can claim whilst being non-verbal and non-dramatic presumably because of its historic high-art status, whereas circus performances are often considered low-art despite this being a very old-fashioned view. The category of Ballet also rules out many other dance forms like South Asian Dance, African Diaspora, and Disabled-led work. The current categorisation, which was established by the previous Government, seems to run the eligibility criteria along the lines of class, race, and disability. OutdoorArtsUK believe the current Government would want to amend this immediately.
Sector bodies such as OutdoorArtsUK are ready and waiting to engage in a conversation with HMRC colleagues to review the existing eligibility criteria.
Sign Up to the Public Newsletter
Sign up to the Outdoor Arts Newsletter, our advocacy piece for Outdoor Arts, where you’ll receive news, sector information, and updates about upcoming events, performances and festivals straight to your inbox.
Image credit: Hi Street Fest Finale, Woolwich, Farrah and host puppets and Sardine Dance 202, photo: Historic England
