Museums and Galleries Exhibition Tax Relief

Museums and Galleries Exhibition Tax Relief is available to charitable companies or companies wholly owned by charities or local authorities that organize qualifying exhibitions. The company claiming the relief can be either a ‘primary production company’ or a ‘secondary production company’.

Primary Production Company

A primary production company must:

• Make an effective, technical, or artistic contribution.

• Be actively engaged in planning and decision-making.

• Directly negotiate, contract, and pay for rights, goods, and services.

• Be responsible for producing and running the exhibition at a venue.

There can only be one primary production company. If an exhibition is held at multiple venues, the primary company must be responsible for at least one of them.

Secondary Production Company

A secondary production company may be involved if the exhibition takes place at more than one venue. To qualify, it must:

• Be responsible for producing and running the exhibition at a venue.

• Be actively engaged in decision-making related to that venue.

Qualifying Exhibition

To qualify for relief, an exhibition must:

• Be a curated public display of objects or works with scientific, historic, artistic, or cultural significance.

• Consist of multiple objects or even a single object.

• Have at least 25% of core costs spent on goods or services sourced from the UK or EEA. From April 1, 2024, at least 10% of core costs must relate to activities within the UK.

• Incur core expenditures related to producing, installing, and, if open for one year or less, uninstalling the exhibition.

Non-Qualifying Exhibitions

Relief cannot be claimed for exhibitions that:

• Are organized in connection with a competition.

• Are not held in person (e.g., online exhibitions).

• Include live performances, except when incidental.

• Display items for sale or living objects, such as live animals or plants.

Claimable Amount

A company can claim an additional deduction to reduce its taxable profits or increase its losses, effectively lowering corporation tax or enhancing tax relief.

The additional deduction is the lower of:

• 80% of total core costs, or

• The amount of core costs spent on UK or EEA goods and services (from April 1, 2024, only UK-related costs will qualify).

Loss-making companies can surrender part or all of their losses for a payable tax credit at the following rates:

• 45% for non-touring exhibitions.

• 50% for touring exhibitions.

The above rates are temporarily increased. The standard rates are 20% for non-touring and 25% for touring exhibitions.

Touring Exhibitions

To qualify as a touring exhibition, the following criteria must be met:

• The exhibition must take place at multiple venues.

• At least 25% of the objects displayed at the first venue must be displayed at every subsequent venue.

• The gap between uninstalling at one venue and installing at the next must not exceed six months.

• A primary production company must exist and be subject to UK corporation tax.

• The company must intend for the exhibition to tour from the planning stage.

Claim Deadline

Claims for Museums and Galleries Exhibition Tax Relief can be made, amended, or withdrawn:

• Up to one year after the company's filing date.

• For accounting periods beginning on or after 01 April 2024, claims can be made up to two years after the end of the relevant accounting period.

Speak to an Expert

If your company is involved in museum and gallery exhibitions, you may be eligible for tax relief. For a free initial consultation, contact our tax team—we’d be happy to help.

Authored by: London Tax Team