§ Mr. FlightTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the income tax receipts forgone, since 1997, as a result of Her Majesty's Government's policy of making tax relief available for investment in film production; and if he will make a statement. [88677]
§ John HealeyFilm production benefits from a number of tax reliefs that accelerate the deduction of expenditure on British qualifying films. The estimated tax cost of relief provided under Section 48 of the Finance (No.2) Act 1997 is £440 million for the period 1997–98 to 2001–2, over double the amount that would have been available under the previous arrangements. The tax cost of the other reliefs is estimated to be an additional £70 million a year.