British certification and Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit (AVEC) / Video Games Expenditure Credit (VGEC) FAQ

A new application system was launched in April 2023 and is available on the Certifications site. This means that all application forms across all sectors for both cultural test and co-production are in the same place within your account. Please note you can no longer access the old system or any previous applications made within the old system. The new system now also allows you to move from interim to final certification using the same application form, please see below for more details on creating an account and the application process.

Our current turnaround time is 14 to 16 weeks from receiving your application to issuing a certificate, we would encourage productions and companies to build these longer timeframes into their schedules when applying for the cultural tests.

Please apply as early as possible if you are under time constraints.

The new application system launched in April 2023. All application forms across all sectors for both cultural test and co-production are found in the same place within your account. There is no longer a separate link on the webpages for each form. You need to create an account and then you can make and manage all your applications within your account. The application forms for the film, HETV, Children’s TV, Animation TV and video games cultural tests can all be found within your account, along with the co-production application form. Enhanced AVEC (IFTC) criteria are included in the relevant forms.

You will receive a confirmation e-mail when your online application is submitted. Your application (along with any supporting documents) will be collated, logged into our database and a file created for your project.

Your project is then assigned to one of the analysts in the team who will be in touch to ask any initial questions or request any documents which may be missing. The new application system means that if there is any missing detail or if anything needs updating within the application this can be sent back to you by the analyst for you to update. If that happens you will receive an e-mail to confirm the application has been unsubmitted and that you need go back into your account to correct the form where indicated and re-submit it, the analyst will then receive an e-mail to say you have sent the form back.

If you don’t hear from us straight away, don’t worry, it’s likely due to a high number of applications or because we don’t have any questions for you at this point.

The assessment can take 14 to 16 weeks depending on the complexity of the application and if any further information or documents are required.

If your application is a straight forward one then you can possibly expect a quicker turnaround.

Please be aware that co-productions can take much longer than this. This is due to the nature of having multiple competent authorities involved who must each receive an application and liaise accordingly.

Once the analyst has completed their assessment they will send their report and recommendation to Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) who will then review them. We send our reports to DCMS once a week, generally mid-week.

Once DCMS officials have agreed with our recommendations, they return the signed e-certificates to us, the certificates are then attached to the relevant project within your account for you to access and download. You will then receive an e-mail to confirm your application has been approved and the certificate is ready to download.

Overall, we advise that it can take 14 to 16 weeks from receiving the application to issuing a certificate, so please bear this in mind and apply early if you are under time constraints.

If you can achieve all of the pass mark points (16 for animation and video games cultural tests or 18 for film, HETV and children’s TV cultural tests) in sections A and B then we advise that you just claim these points.

If you are unsure whether your project will achieve all of the points in these sections you may wish to apply for additional points in section C and D.

The new system now allows you to move from interim to final certification using the same application form. If you have already had an application approved for interim certification for a project that you have now completed, you can then apply for final certification. You can update and use the same application form from within your account and submit it for final certification.

You will need to upload any updated supporting documents such as the latest shooting schedule, a link to the completed project (film/television programme/video game) and a final cost report.

At final certification for the cultural test you will need to supply an accountants report if you are claiming any points in sections in C and D. There is also an accountants report required for co-productions at final certification.

If you are claiming Standard AVEC or VGEC, an accountant’s report is required at final certification only if you are claiming any points in sections C and D. 

If you are claiming Enhanced AVEC (IFTC) you will need to provide an accountant’s report at both interim and final stage, verifying that you have met the core budget condition and the creative connection requirement if you are applying under the film cultural test. If you are applying as an official co-production then you only need to verify the budget condition (core expenditure).

See the applicable guidance notes for further information, templates can be found on the film webpages and the application form.

If you had an account on our system prior to April 2023 you will need to create a new account on our updated application system by choosing ‘Register for an Account’. As this is a completely new system to previous, you are unable to access any applications submitted through the old system.

If you are encountering issues logging in, either the wrong email address is being used to login, or you may be using the incorrect password or have forgotten your password. In this case, choose ‘Reset your password’ and you will be able to set a new password to access your account. If you are still having issues after resetting your password, please e-mail the team at the address below.

If you receive an error message about cookies when you try to launch the application form you will need to change settings in your internet browser to allow for cookies.

Fully close and re-launch your internet browser before trying to access the link.

Email [email protected] or see further information in the document below.

Follow the flow chart below.

You must have one of the following:

• lead director is a British citizen or Resident in the UK
• lead scriptwriter is a British citizen or Resident in the UK
• qualify as an official co-production

Where a film has more than one director or scriptwriter, the applicant must demonstrate who is the lead director or lead scriptwriter and provide supporting evidence for all of the directors or scriptwriters to demonstrate why the qualifying individual is the lead.

This will include but not be limited to, contracts, director’s agreements, writer’s agreement, chain of title documents and evidence of each individual’s contribution to the project equal to or over and above others.

A director/scriptwriter of a film is a lead if the contribution made by them to the film in that role is greater than or equal to the contribution made by each other director/scriptwriters to the film in that role. We would expect their salary to be equal or higher to the other person/s, and for them to be listed as the lead director/scriptwriter in the credits.

The project must have a total core expenditure of less than £23.5 million to be eligible for Enhanced AVEC. Additional guidance on the definition of core spend can be found here.
 
Enhanced AVEC is payable for the first £15million of total core expenditure.  Projects with total core expenditure of £15million to £23.5 million can claim Enhanced AVEC for the first £15 million of core expenditure only.  For projects above £23.5 million only standard AVEC can be claimed.

If an applicant has already applied for or received an AVEC Certificate, the BFI will contact applicants to invite them to submit the additional evidence needed to apply for the Enhanced AVEC (IFTC). Applicants can access the upgrade application form within the application form portal and submit the form to upgrade their certificate. Applicants will have six months from 30 October to change over certificate.

You can only do this if you intend to make no claims at all to HMRC until you have your Final Enhanced AVEC (IFTC) certificate. If you intend to make any claims before final certification, you will need to upgrade your certificate within the six-month window above or you will be locked into only receiving the Standard AVEC rate.

Productions are only eligible if principal photography started on or after 1 April 2024.  Certificates for Enhanced AVEC can only be issued after 30 October 2024.  Claims for Enhanced AVEC can only be made to HMRC from 1 April 2025.

Yes – the applicant can email [email protected] and they will advise on next steps.

 There are no fees or charges for applying for certification.

By completing a statutory declaration for the completed application form you are swearing an oath to the veracity of the information it contains.

A statutory declaration needs to be signed by a director or secretary of the production company or development company. However, someone else within the company can sign on their behalf but we will need a brief email from either the director or secretary, confirming that they have authorised that person to sign on their behalf.

A statutory declaration must be made either before a practising solicitor, general notary, justice of the peace or other officer authorised by law to administer a statutory declaration. They must be independent of the production.

Yes, but the method to do this depends on the country you are in. In some countries, where reliable notarial services are not available, these can be administered by the local British Consul, British Embassy or British High Commission. If local services are available commercially, these are also accepted. To check the situation for the country you are in, please check the gov.uk notarial and document services abroad page.

Yes, we will need you do it again for the new application.

We cannot advise on how much it will cost or where to have this done as costs can vary and recommend that applicants look in to this.

No, they only need to witness the completed printed application form. Please send both the completed application form and statutory declaration to us. If you have submitted supporting documents online, you do not need to send these in as hardcopies too.

The costs in the split budget should be assigned according to where the goods, services and personnel are sourced from (not where they are ‘used and consumed’ – this definition is used for tax relief purposes).

For example, in a UK/Canada co-production if a Canadian director is working in the UK for the project, the director’s fee should go under the Canadian spend in the split budget for our purposes.

No, the European Convention does not allow for television.

Co-producers should apply at the very least one month prior to the start of principal photography/key animation. Your co-producer partner(s) should also submit their applications to the relevant competent authority at the same time.

No, you can only apply for an official British co-production before a project begins filming.

Find out about UK AVEC / VGEC.

Productions can qualify as British in one of three ways. They must meet the requirements of one of the following:

• the Cultural Test. (NB. Video Games can only qualify as British under the Cultural Test)
• one of the UK’s official bilateral co-production treaties
• the European Convention on Cinematographic Co-production (film only)

This is paid to the company responsible for making the film/television programme/video game. All costs should go through this company and it should be set up prior to principal photography/key animation/development starting.

The company must be within the UK corporation tax net.

There is a minimum spend requirement for qualifying production/development expenditure.

They are as follows:

• films, HETV, animation programmes and children’s television programmes must all have a minimum of 10% of total core expenditure that is spent on UK qualifying production costs.
• video games must have a minimum of 10% of total core expenditure spent on UK state qualifying development costs.

UK qualifying production expenditure is defined as expenditure incurred on production activities (pre-production, principal photography/animation shooting/designing/producing and post production) which take place within the UK, irrespective of the nationality of the persons carrying out the activity.

HM Revenue & Customs’ (HMRC) definition of UK spend introduces the concept of where a good or service is “used or consumed” in the UK. If they are used or consumed in the UK, the expenditure is treated as UK expenditure (under the rules set out in the clauses of the Finance Bill). If they are used or consumed outside the UK, they do not count as UK expenditure.

Only expenditure incurred by the production or development company is eligible for AVEC / VGEC.

Further details on the definition of “used and consumed” are available in HMRC’s guidance on tax relief.

Once you have either an interim or final certificate, you can make an application for expenditure credits on the project when you complete your tax returns with HMRC who will then make the assessment for any applicable relief or credit due. You can make as many claims as you wish on UK expenditure to date.

No. If you have any questions relating to eligible expenditure or the tax relief process you should contact Creative Industries Unit at HMRC.

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: 0300 123 3440 (select option 3 for Creative Industry Tax Unit)

We do not deal with rating classification. Please contact the British Board of Film Certification with enquiries relating to film rating classification and censorship.

We recommend visiting the BAFTA website for full BAFTA Film Awards eligibility, rules and entry and checking with the specific festival entry requirements on their websites.

If your project is required to receive British certification please contact the BFI certification team.

• Anna Mansi – Director of Video Games and Certification
• Christopher Halliday – Head of Certification
• Chantel Burrell – Certification Manager – Film 
• Andy Wright – Certification Manager – HETV / Animation / Children’s TV 
• Stuart Burnside – Certification Manager – Video Games 
• Julia Brown – Diversity Standards Manager 
• Niall Davies – Certification Manager – Operations
• Margherita Modeo – Film Analyst
• Collette Weston – Film Analyst
• Cherene Bracegirdle-Smith – Film Analyst
• Sam Langan – Film Analyst
• Grace McCarthy – Film Analyst
• Tim Pullham – HETV / Animation / Children’s TV Analyst
• Dora McKay – HETV / Animation / Children’s TV Analyst
• Sam Stockbridge – HETV / Animation / Children’s TV Analyst
• Natalia Brammen – HETV / Animation / Children’s TV Analyst
• Colin Rice – HETV / Animation / Children’s TV Analyst
• Moni Sernebat Ungar – Diversity Standards Analyst
• Lucy Reed – Video Games Analyst
• Jacob Heayes – Video Games Analyst
• Katie Granger – Video Games Analyst
• José Saleiro Gomes – Certification Co-ordinator
• Saoirse del Tufo – Certification Co-ordinator
• Billy Stanton – Certification Co-ordinator