Orchestra Tax Relief (OTR)

To be qualifying, both the company and orchestral concert will need to meet some conditions.

 

Company eligibility:

The company must be an Orchestral Production Company (OPC). To qualify as a OPC the company must:

• be liable* to UK corporation tax;

• be responsible for putting on the concert from the start of the production process to finish, including employing or engaging the performers;

• be actively engaged in decision-making in relation to the concert;

• make an effective creative, technical and artistic contribution to the concert, and

• directly negotiate for, contract for and pay for rights, goods and services in relation to the concert.

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*Not for profit and charitable organisations with qualifying concerts may also avail of this relief.

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Orchestral Concert

To qualify, the concert must:

• be performed by an orchestra, ensemble, group or band consisting wholly or mainly of instrumentalists;

• the instrumentalists (of at least 12) must be the primary focus of the concert;

• none of the musical instruments played, or a minority of instruments, are electronically or directly amplified;

• each concert in the proposed run of performances is to be live;

• be intended to be performed live to paying members of the general public or for educational purposes; and

• at least 25% of the core expenditure must be European Economic Area (EEA) expenditure.

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Productions which do not qualify include:

• main purpose, or one of the main purposes of the concert is to advertise or promote any goods or services

• the concert is to consist of, or include a competition or contest

• the main purpose, or one of the main purposes of the concert is to make a recording

• the concert is produced is for training purposes

 

Qualifying Expenditure

The all-important spend that can be enhanced is core expenditure as:

• producing the concert up to the performance

• travel to and from a venue that is not the usual venue of the company

• exceptional running costs

• closing the production

 

Core expenditure does not include costs relating to developing the concert, ordinary running costs, exploiting the production or non-production activities such as financing, marketing, legal services or storage.