Officers and liquidators are pursuing companies behind 21 films that sought practically £16 million in incentives from a joint HMRC and British Movie Institute scheme.
Companies managed by prolific movie producer Alan Latham — whose movies have featured stars together with Elizabeth Hurley, Kelsey Grammer, and Invoice Nighy — are being investigated by HM Income & Customs (HMRC) amid questions over how taxpayer funds had been used to finance dozens of little-known productions.
Liquidators are inspecting the collapse of Highfield Grange Manufacturing Providers, one in all Latham’s key holding corporations, which listed £20.4 million in movie investments now written all the way down to zero. Collectors, together with HMRC, have been left dealing with losses after Highfield fell into liquidation following a tax dispute.
The tax authority can also be looking for to wind up GSP Studios Worldwide, Highfield’s important shareholder and one other Latham-controlled entity.
A Times investigation discovered that greater than 20 movies linked to Latham tried to entry £16 million in inventive business tax reliefs, a part of a authorities scheme run collectively by HMRC and the British Movie Institute (BFI) to spice up UK movie manufacturing.
Among the many titles are Christmas in Paradise, a romantic comedy starring Elizabeth Hurley (pictured) and Kelsey Grammer, shot within the Caribbean as a part of a promotional deal for St Kitts and Nevis, and Miss Willoughby and the Haunted Bookshop, that includes Grammer once more.
Lots of the corporations behind these movies haven’t filed accounts for a number of years — a prison offence — whereas others face being struck off the company register. The flicks are absent from the BFI’s listing of tasks that obtained last certification, however some had been granted “interim certification”, which permits funds to be launched earlier than completion.
Questions have additionally been raised concerning the accuracy of the manufacturing budgets used to say tax reduction.
For instance, Solis — a 2018 sci-fi movie starring Steven Ogg of The Strolling Lifeless fame — was reported in firm accounts to have value £4.7 million, qualifying for practically £1 million in interim tax credit. Its director, Carl Strathie, has mentioned publicly that the movie’s actual funds was nearer to £700,000.
One other movie, Gatecrash (2020), is listed as having value £4.5 million, but people accustomed to the undertaking declare the funds was about £750,000. It obtained practically £900,000 in tax credit.
Liquidators at Begbies Traynor, who’re overseeing Highfield’s administration, mentioned they’ve carried out “thorough investigations” into why the movie investments had been written off. In filings this yr, they confirmed that solicitors had been instructed to pursue “related events” with “substantial claims” in opposition to two unnamed particular objective autos.
They added that “substantial quantities of cash have been recognized as having been paid to different related corporations” and that transactions had been being investigated for “having the impact of diminishing the corporate’s belongings.”
An announcement of affairs signed by Latham listed £3.7 million owed to GSP Studios Worldwide, one other of his corporations, now additionally dealing with HMRC motion.
The episode has raised wider questions for HMRC and the BFI, which oversee the certification and administration of the UK’s £500 million-a-year movie tax credit score scheme.
The BFI confirmed that it really works intently with HMRC and the federal government to “uphold the integrity of the system,” including: “We take any issues about potential misuse critically. The tax incentives have helped entice funding, create jobs throughout the UK and showcase British creativity worldwide.”
An HMRC spokesperson mentioned solely: “We take compliance inside inventive business tax reliefs critically.”
Latham, an accountant turned movie producer, has held greater than 150 directorships and stays linked to greater than 60 lively corporations. He didn’t reply to a number of requests for remark.
There is no such thing as a suggestion of wrongdoing by any actors or crew members concerned within the productions.
In 2022, Latham informed the Mail on Sunday that “inefficiency” was in charge for his corporations’ repeated failure to file accounts, after buyers complained about dropping cash in one in all his earlier movies, The Comic’s Information to Survival, which grossed simply £75.
