ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

12 years, 1 month ago - Steel Wallis

Try S.E.I.S it's much better than E.I.S.. but has to £150k cap,, and coupled with investors loss sheme and film makers tax credit (if paid to investor) it is poss for investor not to make a loss, even if picture does. Here's a SEIS calculator ..
I Know I'm being a bit vague/slap dash if you want more info I'd be happy to discuss it further... Been studying it a lot recently.

Best of luck

Steel

12 years, 3 months ago - SP User

For some reason that link doesn't take you directly to the HMRC page that "explains" the scheme, but it's easy to find with a bit of googling.

12 years, 3 months ago - SP User

I've seen no anecdotal evidence of ANY investor EVER making their money back. Check this discussion: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=57410607

12 years, 3 months ago - Lee 'Wozy' Warren

Thanks for the clarification Howard. Interesting.

12 years, 1 month ago - John Lubran

These oxymoronically labelled 'tax incentive schemes' seem to me to be a diversion created in order to steer folk away from fundamental and long established enterprise investment rules that go under different names. (These are not the droids you're looking for). Anyone with surplus and potentially taxable funds can legitimately divert their money into a vast range of tax deductible business costs without having to play convoluted administrative games. A film can be a business venture just like any other enterprise. Think of the business of making films as not something extraordinary in business investment terms; because that's what the government and highly paid media focused financial consultants want you to believe. Most operating outputs in a business enterprise are effectively tax deductible in the event of either loss or profit, even if some write offs require a period of time (between 12 and 60 months), and in the event of profit a whole array of tax benefits can be achieved. For projects that really do make more profit than can be legitimately written off then be good citizens because UK corporation is currently only between a mere 20% and 23%. It's just statute legislation, which unlike constitutional law is all about the naming of parts. Two or more things might be, for all practical purposes, identical, but might quite properly be called a number of differing things as far as that legislation goes, all of which offer differing, and sometimes vastly differing, outcomes. For example two or more established business enterprises can collaborate in a venture without having to create any new limited company share structures at all through relatively standard contractual agreements. Don’t let the density of the trees stop you from seeing the wood.

12 years, 1 month ago - Yen Rickeard

Hi, maybe Howard Davidson has it right - but as I understand it, if an investor invests £5000 in your film he gets the tax he would have paid on this (30% as a business, up to 50% as an individual) but you still get the £5000. In effect the government has stumped up.
It is all so complicated - does anyone know which of us is right?
Thanks
Yen Rickeard

12 years, 1 month ago - Lee 'Wozy' Warren

Thanks all for your feedback. Interesting to say the least :)

@wozyW

12 years, 3 months ago - Lee 'Wozy' Warren

The goal may not always be to make money back... some people may just want the tax relief.

12 years, 1 month ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

Yen and Howard are saying the same thing with different framing.

Investor stumps up £5000 buying EIS-issued shares. Producer completes paperwork, HMRC issues certificates, producer sends those to investors who use them in their tax return and HMRC return the 30%(£1500) via the tax codes/in cash to the (taxpaying) investors. Producer has £5000 cash, investor has only *suffered* £3500.

12 years, 3 months ago - SP User

the tax relief is minimal compared to the investment. You are better of investing in an ISA or something that is regulated and insured.

12 years, 1 month ago - rob curry

Hi Steerl - where is the SEIS calculator out of interest?

12 years, 3 months ago - SP User

Hi Lee. Where to start.... I consider investors filmmakers because they INVEST the money to make the films. With the EIS, the tax break is only on a percentage of the investment. So for example, if someone invests £5000 in your project, their tax break would be 30%, or £1500. What about the other £2500? That money would be in the productions bank account helping them make the film. Should they consider that money a donation? Obviously not, they would expect a profit on their investment. All I was pointing out, is in my extensive research, I have not heard of anyone making their investment back.
As far as the insinuation that I don't "root" for filmmakers, I think a look at my CV and blog, both available at www.hodah.net would show that I support low-budget independent filmmaking and have since the mid '80's in NYC. I'll rephrase my original answer to your question. As a producer the EIS is a terrific way to get money with hardly any backend responsibility. (without going on and on, I do realize there are capital gains and loss issues here as well. The EIS is a very complex scheme as anyone can tell: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/eis/)

12 years, 3 months ago - Lee 'Wozy' Warren

Now there's someone rooting for the filmmaker...

12 years, 1 month ago - Peter Harris

There were some chnages to SEIS in April:
http://fundthegap.com/blog/9/seed-enterprise-investment-scheme-what-changes-the-new-tax-year-brings-and-how-investors-are-affected

Reckon it'd be worth a trip to this: http://www.bafta.org/film/news-and-events/2013-sargent-disc-bafta-filmmakers-market,3808,BA.html

12 years, 1 month ago - Steel Wallis

Rob,, sorry thought I pasted it in..
http://uncharted.livesheets.com/forms/ddc9c777e374e1b3529dda0314879dd8036f4fd7
if it's doesn't work google "seis calculator" and click second option down..
And have a listen to this podcast,, http://www.chrisjonesblog.com/2013/02/how-to-get-your-film-funded-using-the-eis-and-seis-and-uk-film-tax-credit-podcast-with-ivan-clements.html

Steel @steelsreels