OTR50020 - Orchestra Tax Relief: qualifying concerts: orchestral concerts

S1217PA Corporation Tax Act 2009

A concert is an orchestral concert if it is one performed by an orchestra, ensemble, group or band consisting wholly or mainly of instrumentalists who are the primary focus of the concert.

A concert is not an orchestral concert if

  • its main purpose, or one of its main purposes, is to advertise goods or services
  • it consists of a competition or contest
  • the making of a relevant recording is the main object of the performance

A relevant recoding is one which is

  • broadcast at the same time or later
  • released at the same time or later by digital or other means to the public
  • used as a sound track
  • used in a film

Relevant Recording

A concert for live streaming or digital broadcast may qualify if there is a paying public audience present where the concert takes place, provided the main object of the event is the performance by the orchestra. When determining the main object of a performance, many factors might be taken into consideration, including the relative size of the audience and the potential sources of income.

It may be that a paying audience was initially intended to be present at a concert, but then that plan changes partway through the planning stage. If the performance is still intended to be streamed or digitally broadcast, then this becomes the main object of the performance if there is no live audience, and so it is not an orchestral concert and is not eligible for relief.

In these circumstances, HMRC will treat the concert as initially intended as a qualifying concert, providing that the qualifying criteria are met. At the point where the intention has changed, and the relevant recording has become the main object, HMRC will treat the original concert as having been abandoned. Expenditure on the concert before this point will still be eligible for relief in line with the usual treatment of abandoned productions. The inclusion of such abandoned concerts will not invalidate an election. The company should retain evidence of the initial intention.

Any expenditure incurred after this point will have been incurred on producing a relevant recording and will not be eligible for relief. It should not be included in the separate trade computation and cannot be included as part of an election.

If a concert is planned for a theatrical release to the paying public at the cinema, or is intended to be broadcast online or on TV, then it is possible that Film Tax Relief or Television Tax Relief may be more appropriate - see the Film Production Company Manual or the Television Production Company Manual for more information about those reliefs.