French Tax Measure To Tempt Foreign Film-Makers

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

07 January 2009

In a bid to entice foreign film-makers to France, a new tax incentive, recently ratified by the French parliament, will enable international film producers to benefit from a 20% tax reduction on production costs when they film in France.

Forming part of the 2009 Finance bill, the introduction of this international tax credit, will serve as a large incentive for foreign film companies.

However, in order to profit from the tax reductions, production costs realised on French soil must exceed EUR1m. In addition, the total tax credit resulting from this scheme will be capped at EUR4m.

According to Thierry de Segonzac, President of Ficam, the French federation of cinema, audiovisual and multimedia industries, 2008 proved a disastrous year for the industry.

Alluding to specific occasions where prohibitive production costs resulted in the cancelling of filming in France in favour of less expensive alternative locations, Ficam’s president reported that spending on four foreign film productions in France last year amounted to a mere EUR3.7m.

Eager to tempt American film producers in particular back to France, Ficam extolled the new tax incentive, convinced that from 2009 it will serve to generate growth of more than EUR100m, as much as EUR200m by 2010, and EUR250m by 2015 – the equivalent of around 480 days of foreign filming in France as opposed to 120 days currently.

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