{"id":5984,"date":"2020-07-21T15:42:08","date_gmt":"2020-07-21T14:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/?p=5984"},"modified":"2024-01-18T12:28:20","modified_gmt":"2024-01-18T12:28:20","slug":"how-is-tax-different-for-film-industry-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/self-employed-tax-returns\/how-is-tax-different-for-film-industry-jobs\/","title":{"rendered":"How is tax different for film industry jobs?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Self-employment is a big factor in film industry jobs, especially if you work behind the camera. However, unlike the general self-employed workforce that have a more clearly defined employment status, the film industry is different.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In contrast, they are split between those on PAYE and those who have to file a tax return, despite both being technically self-employed.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is PAYE?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>PAYE stands for Pay As You Earn. It\u2019s a way of paying Income Tax and National Insurance through your wages.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You&#8217;re most commonly on the PAYE tax structure as an employee. But when you work in the film and TV industry as a freelancer, you may be paid by the production via PAYE, despite not being an employee.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As an employee, you will also pay the following through PAYE:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Pension contributions<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Your student loan<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Tax in 10(ish) seconds - what is your employment status?\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/i0hMhE-T9Xs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>When you\u2019re <strong>self-employed<\/strong>, you will have to make private contributions into a pension independently of your work.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You pay your student loan via your tax return.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Are PAYE film industry jobs the same as employment?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>No, they\u2019re not. The majority of film industry jobs are characterised by short-term contracts and casual\/freelance work. This is because many of them only last the duration of a specific production e.g. a television programme or a film. Others are based on a finite period e.g. a yearly 3-month production.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this case, each working agreement must be separate from the last. If it is not, you may have your employment status reviewed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Employee benefits<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Even if you\u2019re paid via PAYE, you\u2019re different from permanent employees. You don\u2019t have access to the following permanent employment benefits such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Job security &#8211; you can have your work agreement terminated at any time and you won\u2019t be paid redundancy<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Holiday pay &#8211; if you don\u2019t work, you\u2019re not paid<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pension contributions &#8211; you must plan for the future independently&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is the Lorimer case?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/library.croneri.co.uk\/cch_uk\/btc\/1993-btc-473\">Hall v Lorimer<\/a> case was a court ruling about the employment status of a TV technician. Now, short-term workers in the film and TV industry use this as a landmark guide for their employment status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Mr Lorimer worked between 120-150 short-term gigs<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Each engagement was between 2 to 3 days long<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The gigs were for 22 different companies<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>He made \u00a332,000 and incurred \u00a39000 expenses<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The court ruled that he was self-employed<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>He could deduct his expenses from his income<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Film and TV industry self-employed professionals now use <a href=\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/glossary\/lp-10-letter\/\">Lorimer letters<\/a> to prove their self-employment status<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Film industry jobs that are not PAYE<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If your production does not deduct tax for you via your wages, you will need to complete a <a href=\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/glossary\/self-assessment\/\">Self Assessment<\/a> and file a tax return to do this yourself.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a self-employed worker, you will pay the following tax on your return:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/glossary\/income-tax\/\">Income Tax<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/glossary\/class-2-national-insurance\">Class 2 National Insurance<\/a> (scrapped from 6 April 2024)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/glossary\/class-4-national-insurance\/\">Class 4 National Insurance<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The rate that you pay Income Tax depends on what you earn. Take a look at the table below to calculate what you might owe, or check out our<a href=\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/calculator\/income-tax\/\"> Income Tax calculator<\/a> to have the maths done for you!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td>What you earn<\/td><td>Tax band<\/td><td>Tax rate<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Up to \u00a312,570<\/td><td>Personal Allowance<\/td><td>0%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Up to \u00a350,270<\/td><td>Basic Rate<\/td><td>20%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\u00a350,271 &#8211; \u00a3125,140<\/td><td>Higher Rate<\/td><td>40%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Over \u00a3125,141<\/td><td>Additional Rate<\/td><td>45%<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Film and TV industry expenses<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As we mentioned in the details of the Lorimer case, self-employed workers in the film industry (and generally) can deduct their expenses from their earnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Tax in 10(ish) seconds - what are expenses?\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/H2yyiSfSdoE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Here is a list of allowable expenses that you can deduct to lower your tax bill. But these are just a few examples &#8211; you can technically expense anything, as long as you can prove that it is a business expense i.e. bought for work purposes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Camera equipment<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lighting<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Printers<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Laptops and computers<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Computer software<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Travel expenses (business travel)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Props<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Accounting costs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Be aware that you can <strong>ONLY<\/strong> claim expenses if you are taxed as a self-employed worker and not via PAYE.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Self-employment is a big factor in film industry jobs, especially if you work behind the camera. However, unlike the general self-employed workforce that have a more clearly defined employment status, the film industry is different.&nbsp; In contrast, they are split between those on PAYE and those who have to file a tax return, despite both [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[445,440],"tags":[414,411],"class_list":["post-5984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-creators","category-self-employed-tax-returns","tag-employment-status","tag-self-employed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How is tax different for film industry jobs? &#8211; Taxfix<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Self-employment is a big factor in film industry jobs, especially if you work behind the camera. It&#039;s split between PAYE and those who file a tax return.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/self-employed-tax-returns\/how-is-tax-different-for-film-industry-jobs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How is tax different for film industry jobs? &#8211; Taxfix\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Self-employment is a big factor in film industry jobs, especially if you work behind the camera. It&#039;s split between PAYE and those who file a tax return.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/self-employed-tax-returns\/how-is-tax-different-for-film-industry-jobs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Taxfix\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/taxfix_uk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-07-21T14:42:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-18T12:28:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/eyJhc3NldF9pZCI6NTY3OH0_taxfix-gmbh_UwIjumOzeyPqNyDgJ1bVY_OROVADgg2mBtzSX1XQ7A0.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gemma Doswell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Taxfix\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Taxfix\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/self-employed-tax-returns\/how-is-tax-different-for-film-industry-jobs\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/self-employed-tax-returns\/how-is-tax-different-for-film-industry-jobs\/\",\"name\":\"How is tax different for film industry jobs? &#8211; Taxfix\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-21T14:42:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-18T12:28:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/#\/schema\/person\/008d0d859b00d5809e35d143dff5dd4a\"},\"description\":\"Self-employment is a big factor in film industry jobs, especially if you work behind the camera. It's split between PAYE and those who file a tax return.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/self-employed-tax-returns\/how-is-tax-different-for-film-industry-jobs\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/self-employed-tax-returns\/how-is-tax-different-for-film-industry-jobs\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/self-employed-tax-returns\/how-is-tax-different-for-film-industry-jobs\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How is tax different for film industry jobs?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/\",\"name\":\"Taxfix\",\"description\":\"Taxes as they should be done\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/#\/schema\/person\/008d0d859b00d5809e35d143dff5dd4a\",\"name\":\"Gemma Doswell\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ee123e7e4df1efafc651aa2721860dbf529c4458f2fd6d13cdb62e8f05ffc2f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ee123e7e4df1efafc651aa2721860dbf529c4458f2fd6d13cdb62e8f05ffc2f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gemma Doswell\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How is tax different for film industry jobs? &#8211; Taxfix","description":"Self-employment is a big factor in film industry jobs, especially if you work behind the camera. It's split between PAYE and those who file a tax return.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/self-employed-tax-returns\/how-is-tax-different-for-film-industry-jobs\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"How is tax different for film industry jobs? &#8211; Taxfix","og_description":"Self-employment is a big factor in film industry jobs, especially if you work behind the camera. It's split between PAYE and those who file a tax return.","og_url":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/self-employed-tax-returns\/how-is-tax-different-for-film-industry-jobs\/","og_site_name":"Taxfix","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/taxfix_uk","article_published_time":"2020-07-21T14:42:08+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-01-18T12:28:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":628,"url":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/eyJhc3NldF9pZCI6NTY3OH0_taxfix-gmbh_UwIjumOzeyPqNyDgJ1bVY_OROVADgg2mBtzSX1XQ7A0.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Gemma Doswell","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Taxfix","twitter_site":"@Taxfix","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/self-employed-tax-returns\/how-is-tax-different-for-film-industry-jobs\/","url":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/self-employed-tax-returns\/how-is-tax-different-for-film-industry-jobs\/","name":"How is tax different for film industry jobs? &#8211; Taxfix","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-07-21T14:42:08+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-18T12:28:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/#\/schema\/person\/008d0d859b00d5809e35d143dff5dd4a"},"description":"Self-employment is a big factor in film industry jobs, especially if you work behind the camera. It's split between PAYE and those who file a tax return.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/self-employed-tax-returns\/how-is-tax-different-for-film-industry-jobs\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/self-employed-tax-returns\/how-is-tax-different-for-film-industry-jobs\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/self-employed-tax-returns\/how-is-tax-different-for-film-industry-jobs\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How is tax different for film industry jobs?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/","name":"Taxfix","description":"Taxes as they should be done","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/#\/schema\/person\/008d0d859b00d5809e35d143dff5dd4a","name":"Gemma Doswell","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ee123e7e4df1efafc651aa2721860dbf529c4458f2fd6d13cdb62e8f05ffc2f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ee123e7e4df1efafc651aa2721860dbf529c4458f2fd6d13cdb62e8f05ffc2f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Gemma Doswell"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5984"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5984\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31353,"href":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5984\/revisions\/31353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taxfix.com\/en-uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}