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Top 12 weirdest tax rules around the world

Countries across the globe have justified deductions, extra percentages, and wacky ways of coming up with tax revenue. Here's a countdown of the 12 strangest tax laws around the world.

7. Britain: culturally British film tax break

YouTube trailer screen shot
Robert Downey, Jr. portrays British detective Sherlock Holmes in 'Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.'

Britain wants to keep its culture alive in films—so much so that it has created a tax rule that gives tax deductions to films deemed “culturally British”.

The process is more complex than flying a British flag or setting your movie in London. All films that would like to claim this deduction have to register their production where it is rated through a mathematical “culture test” weighted as follows:

  • Cultural content (up to 16 points).
  • Cultural contribution (up to 4 points).
  • Cultural hubs (up to 3 points).
  • Cultural practitioners (up to 8 points).

Films must score at least 16 out of 31 points to get up to a 25 percent tax break. Here are some examples of film characteristics that qualify: film set in the UK (four points), film represents/reflects a diverse British culture, British heritage or British creativity (four points), and original dialogue recorded mainly in English language (four points).

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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