Eady Levy

The Eady Levy was a tax on box office receipts in the United Kingdom, intended to support the British film industry and named for Sir Wilfred Eady. It was established in 1957 and terminated in 1985.

Background

A levy was first proposed by Harold Wilson, then president of the Board of Trade, in 1949. The levy was intended to assist producers of British film. A direct governmental payment to British-based producers would have qualified as a subsidy under the terms of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and would have led to objections from American film producers. An indirect levy did not qualify as a subsidy, and so was a suitable way of providing additional funding for the UK film industry whilst avoiding criticism from abroad.

Establishment

The Eady Levy came into effect on 9 September 1950 but was not established on a statutory basis until its incorporation in the Cinematograph Films Act 1957. It had the effect of both assisting the film industry, and reducing the effect of entertainment tax on film exhibition, to which all the cinema industry was opposed.