The sunset clause for the Museum and Galleries Exhibition Tax Relief (MGETR) was supposed to come into force on 31 March 2022. As part of the Autumn Budget measures, the Chancellor announced that the relief will be extended for another two years to 31 March 2024. This will help encourage the sector just as exhibitions are starting to tour again. The government will also keep the relief under review prior to making a final decision regarding its future.
The MGETR is part of a collection of creative industry tax reliefs (CITR) that allow qualifying companies to claim a larger deduction, or in some circumstances claim a payable tax credit when calculating their taxable profits.
The Chancellor also announced that to support theatres, orchestras, museums and galleries to recover from COVID, tax reliefs for all those sectors will be increased from 27 October 2021 and won’t return to the normal rate until 1 April 2024. The maximum rates will apply until 1 April 2023 and then there will be a further step before reverting to the standard rate from 1 April 2024.
For example, the rates for Theatre Tax Relief (TTR) will increase from 20% (for non-touring productions) and 25% (for touring productions) to 45% and 50% respectively from 27 October 2021. From 1 April 2023, the rates will be 30% and 35%, and rates will return to 20% and 25% on 1 April 2024.
