Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to orchestral tax relief on orchestras that rely on touring.

The UK provides world-leading support for orchestras: at Autumn Budget 2024, the Government confirmed that from 1 April 2025, the rate of OTR will be set at the generous rate of 45%.

From April 2024, qualifying expenditure for the orchestra tax relief (OTR) is expenditure incurred on goods or services that are ‘used or consumed in the UK’, replacing the previous rule that qualifying costs were those incurred on goods/services provided from the UK or EEA.  To ease the transition to the new rule, orchestras with concerts in train on 1 April 2024 were permitted to continue claiming relief on goods/services provided from within the EEA until 31 March 2025.

It is appropriate to refocus orchestra tax relief on UK expenditure now that the UK has left the EU. Under the new rule, the relief incentivises activity within the UK, rather than the UK and the EEA. This does not prevent qualifying productions from touring in the EEA (nor elsewhere).