Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Answer of 12 December 2022 to Written Question 105279 on Orchestras and Theatre: Tax Allowances, what the average wait time was for the 15 per cent of valid claims for Theatre and Orchestra Tax Reliefs who were not paid within 28 days of receipt.

HMRC constantly monitors payment times. It is important that these reliefs are easy to access and meet the needs of the claimant organisations. However, this must be balanced against the need to ensure that taxpayer money is not paid out in respect of fraudulent or incorrect claims.

We are unable to provide an average wait time for claims which were not processed within 28 days, as any figures could be misleading, given the range of reasons why these claims are not paid within 28 days. These range from simple administrative issues such as missing payment details, to more complex issues requiring the claim to be reviewed in more detail before payment can be released.