State-by-state production incentives
Texas
| Texas | |
| Incentive Type | Grant |
| Incentives Highlights | Up to 15% of all qualified expenses, or 25% of resident labor expenses. Shooting in underutilized areas adds 2 1/2% to the 15%, or 4.25% to the 25%. The highest rebates are for spends above $5 million; they scale down to a minimum spend of $250,000. |
| Eligible Projects | Films, television programs, commercials, and video games |
| Minimum Spend | $250K for films, $100,000 for commercials, videos or games. |
| Production Cap or Annual Cap | $30M annual cap; first $1M of each resident salary |
| Application/Reporting Requirements | Productions must pre-qualify with the Film commission. The Film commission may deny projects that portray Texas or Texans in a negative manner. 60% of shooting days must be in Texas, 70% of paid cast and crew must be Texas residents. |
| Loan-Out Reg Required? | No |
| CPA Audit? | No – state conducts audit. |
Texas Film Commission
Evan Fitzmaurice
film@governor.state.tx.us
t: (512) 463-9200
f: (512) 463-4114
www.texasfilmcommission.com
The Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program, which applies to commercials, television, feature films, talk shows and reality programs offers up to 15% of all qualified expenses, or 25% of qualified labor (less for talk and reality programs). Shooting in underutilized or economically distressed areas can add 2.5% to the 15% rebate (17.5%) or 4.25% to the 25% option (for a possible 29.25%).
Under the first option A; total Texas qualified spend, if the spend is between $250,000 and $1 million, the rebate is 5%. Between $1 million and $5 million, the rebate is 10%. Above $5 million, it is 15%.
The second option, total qualified Texas wages; the rebates are 8% between $250,000 and $1 million, 17% between $1 and $5 million, and 25% above $5 million. This is a direct payment from the state — no tax credits are involved.
Option A requires a full certified audit of all qualified expenses, which will be expensive and time-consuming.
Note that 60% of the shooting days must be in Texas, and at least 70% of paid cast and crew must be Texas residents. Anything less than 70% will result in a loss of the entire credit.
Also, the State of Texas is not required to make payments to projects that include inappropriate content or content that portrays Texas or Texans in a negative fashion. It is not clear if this determination is based on evaluation of the screenplay, or the finished product, but an arbitrary determination could cause problems for many productions.
For applications received after August 28, 2011 a CPA Audit Opinion together with submissions is required if receiving over $300,000 in grant funds.
There is also an incentive for video game production on the same sliding scale as Option A (5%-17.5%).
More details on this incentive are available at http://bit.ly/cqhgoX
Texas has a substantial crew base and infrastructure.