Eligibility for film tax credit may be extended

Eligibility criteria for the new Irish film tax credit scheme which is due to start next year may be extended in 2016, Finance Minister Michael Noonan announced yesterday.

The scheme is an investor-based tax incentive for films and television programmes made in Ireland.

The benefit is based on the cost of cast and crew working in Ireland, and goods and services purchased in Ireland, up to a maximum value of 80% of the total film budget.

Under the scheme, projects can claw back up to 28% of their qualifying expenditure, and up to 30% on projects with an eligible expenditure level in excess of €30m. The incentive is guaranteed until December 2020. Currently, there is a ceiling of €50m on qualifying expenditure per project, but the minister indicated that he would be prepared to increase that by 20%.

Mr Noonan said he would monitor how the scheme worked and how it could be improved. “The new Irish film tax credit scheme is due to commence in 2015 and I am very pleased that it has been broadly welcomed by the film industry.

“The film industry is very important to modern Irish culture and to the economy, not just in terms of jobs but also indirectly through tourism promotion. As the new scheme beds down next year, I will be monitoring how it works and how it can be improved.

“One of the issues that I will consider in the context of Budget 2016 is a possible increase to the €50m cap on eligible expenditure, subject of course to resource constraints.”