British Columbia Incentives

Film Incentive British Columbia

British Columbia offers three incentives, all administered by British Columbia Film. The Basic Incentive is equal to 30% of eligible labour expenditures, capped at 48% of total production costs. The Regional Incentive is a bonus of 12.5% of eligible labour expenditures for principal photography outside of Vancouver. The Training Incentive is a bonus of 3% of eligible labour expenditures or 30% of trainee wages, whichever is less, for providing training through an approved training program.

Eligibility

• For the Basic Incentive, the production company must be British Columbia controlled and must control the ownership of the copyright.
• For the Basic Incentive, the producer must be a British Columbia resident and a Canadian.
• The producer must be a taxable, Canadian-controlled corporation.
• The producer must have a permanent establishment in British Columbia.
• The producer must be primarily engaged in the business of film or video production.
• The production must attain a minimum of six CAVCO points.
• 75% of principal photography must occur in British Columbia.
• 75% of total production costs must be for goods or services provided in British Columbia by British Columbia residents or companies with a permanent establishment in British Columbia.
• 75% of post-production costs must be for post-production work carried out in British Columbia.
• The production company must have a contract with a Canadian distributor/broadcaster guaranteeing a release/broadcast in Canada within two years of the date the production is commercially available.

British Columbia Film Production Services Tax Credit

The PSTC is a refundable corporate income tax credit. When filing tax returns, production corporations may claim a specified percentage of the labour costs incurred in making film, television, digital animation or visual effects productions. The credits are applied to reduce tax payable, and any remaining balance is paid to the corporation.There is no limit on the PSTC that may be claimed on a particular production and there is no limit that a corporation or group of corporations can claim.

Eligibility 
Minimum budget levels:

For episodic television, episodes that are less than ½ hour - $100,000 per episode;
For episodic television, where episodes are all or substantially all animated and are less than ½ hour - $0 per episode;
For episodic television, episodes that are a ½ hour or longer - $200,000 per episode;
In all other cases - $1,000,000;
The corporation claiming the tax credit must own the copyright in the production or be contracted directly with the copyright owner of the production to provide production services;
The corporation claiming the tax credit must have a permanent establishment in BC;
Some genres are excluded from the PSTC including, but not limited to, pornography, talk shows, news, live sports events, game shows, reality television, and advertising. 

Basic PSTC value is 25% calculated based on accredited qualified BC labour expenditure of the corporation.

Regional PSTC vale is 6%. The accredited qualified BC labour expenditure of the corporation pro-rated by the number of days of principal photography in British Columbia outside of the designated Vancouver area to the total days of principal photography in BC. This tax credit must be accessed in conjunction with the Basic PSTC.

Distant Location Regional PSTC value is 6%. The accredited qualified BC labour expenditure of the corporation pro-rated by the number of days of principal photography in British Columbia within a prescribed area to the total days of principal photography in BC. This tax credit must be accessed in conjunction with the Regional PSTC.

Digital Animation or Visual Effects PSTC value is 15%. The accredited qualified BC labour expenditures directly attributable to digital animation or visual effects activities. This tax credit must be accessed in conjunction with the Basic PSTC.
 

Other British Columbia Incentive Programs

• British Columbia Film Project Development Fund
• British Columbia Film Slate Development Fund
• British Columbia Film Passport to Markets
• British Columbia Film Scholarship Program
• British Columbia Arts Council Project Assistance for Media Artists Program

Contact Information

Visit British Columbia Film at www.bcfilm.bc.ca or call 604.736.7997.
Visit British Columbia Arts Council at www.bcartscouncil.ca or call 250.356.1728.