The streamer has pulled no punches in its response to lawmakers’ recommendation for a UK streaming levy of 5%.The influential Culture, Media & Sport Committee (CMSC) has recommended the imposition of a 5% levy on streamers’ UK subscriber revenue, and urged the government to step in and make this statutory if the industry doesn’t act within a year.Were the levy to be brought in, Deadline understands the extra cost will be passed onto consumers.Responding to the committee’s inquiry report, Netflix said in a statement that the UK is its “biggest production hub outside of North America – and we want it to stay that way.”“But in an increasingly competitive global market, it’s key to create a business environment that incentivises rather than penalises investment, risk taking and success,” added a spokeswoman. “Levies diminish competitiveness and penalise audiences who ultimately bear the increased costs.”At present, the imposition of a 5% levy feels unlikely.Chris Bryant, the creative industries minister, told lawmakers in January “we haven’t got any plans” to introduce the levy, while enforcing an additional cost burden on American firms in the wake of Donald Trump’s tariffs may be seen as a big ask as the UK government seeks to keep relations with the U.S. on a positive footing.Netflix is also a major contributor to the UK ecology, which could most recently be seen proved by the smash hit success of Adolescence, a Netflix UK original that was filmed in the UK. We revealed earlier today that a second season is in the offing.Other streamers previously gave evidence to the CMSC and queried “what problem a levy would be trying to solve,” the committee said. The Association for Commercial Broadcasters and On-Demand Services (COBA), which represents the interests of the big U.S. players in the UK, argued that “ironically, [a levy] could actually damage PSB dramas by reducing co-production budgets at streamers.” We have reached out to Amazon and Disney but neither have commented further on the levy plans.“The levels of investment from streamers in UK content are the envy of many countries,” added the COBA statement, which pointed to research that found there were 21 co-productions between streamers and UK pubcasters in 2024. “A levy risks damaging that.”The report came after an 18 month inquiry and also made recommendations in areas such as tax credits, artificial intelligence and BFI funding.
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