MGETR10090 - Museums and Galleries Exhibition Tax Relief: Temporary uplift and new permanent rates

Finance Act 2022 introduced a temporary uplift in the rate of Museums & Galleries Exhibition Tax Credits for exhibitions that enter the production phase on or after 27 October 2021. This uplift was extended for a further two years by the Finance (No 2) Act 2023.Ìý

»Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp Finance (No 2) Act 2024 replaced the uplifted rates from 1 April 2025 with new permanent rates of 45% for touring exhibitions and 40% for non-touring exhibitions. Unlike the uplifted rates, the new permanent rates are available to all exhibitions, including those which entered production before 27 October 2021.

What is meant by the production phase is outlined in MGETR60020.

For exhibitions which began production on or after 27 October 2021, the rates are as follows:

Accounting period Touring rate (%) Non-touring rate (%)
27 October 2021 - 31 March 2025 50 45
From 1 April 2025 45 40

For productions which began production before 27 October 2021, the rates are as follows:

Accounting period Touring rate (%) Non-touring rate (%)
Up to 31 March 2025 25 20
From 1 April 2025 45 40

Where a company’s accounting period straddles any of the above dates, the company should split that period into two separate notional accounting periods ending or starting on this date. »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp company should calculate its profit/loss for each period and then calculate Museums & Galleries Exhibition Tax Relief (MGETR) for each period separately.Ìý»Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp two computations may be submitted in the same CT600 tax return.

See CTM01405 for more information about how to apportion accounting periods.Ìý

Example Ìý

A Museums & Galleries Exhibition Production Company (MGEPC) typically makes up its accounts for 12 month periods ending on 31 December.ÌýÌý

»Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp MGEPC begins work on a new non-touring exhibition and enters the production stage on 1 January 2025.Ìý »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp company incurs core production expenditure for five months, until 1 June. »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp exhibition runs for 2 months (until 31 July); some closing costs are incurred in August.ÌýÌý

»Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp trade commences on 1 January and ceases when the production is completely closed on 31 August.Ìý

»Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp MGEPC’s accounting period straddles the date of a rate change: 1 April 2025. »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp company must therefore create two separate accounting periods for the purposes of their MGETR claim. Income and costs should be apportioned between the periods in a reasonable manner.Ìý

Period 1: 1 January 2025 â€� 31 March 2025Ìý
Period 2: 1 April 2025 � 31 August 2025

»Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp production stage is 5 months long, with 3 months falling into Period 1 and 2 months into Period 2. Assuming that expenditure was incurred relatively evenly across all five months, it is reasonable to split the production stage expenditure equally over those 5 months, allocating 3/5 to Period 1 and 2/5 to Period 2.Ìý

»Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp running costs are non-core but wouldn’t be recognised until they occur, in Period 2. »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp closing costs are potentially core and would also be recognised in Period 2.ÌýÌý

Losses that arise in Period 1 can be surrendered for a tax credit at 45%.Ìý

»Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp amount of profit/loss and of MGETR for Period 2 must be calculated on a cumulative basis, as for multi-period productions. Any losses that arise can be surrendered at a rate of 40%.