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Samantha Traub
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Page 1 of 4 Two tax incentives – the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, and the Film or Video Production Services Tax Credit – provide indirect federal government funding for qualified films. Foreign as well as domestic producers may be eligible for the funding.
Canadian Film or Video Production Tax CreditThe Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit (the Federal Content Credit) is a federal refundable tax credit, administered by the Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office (CAVCO) and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to promote domestic production.
The guidelines for the Federal Content Credit are lengthy and complex. For the complete guidelines and application forms, as well as relevant sections and regulations of the Income Tax Act, visit the CAVCO website. What follows here is a summary of key aspects of those guidelines.
- The Credit is 25% of the qualified labour expenditures for a Canadian film or video production produced by a “Canadian controlled” corporation, as defined under the Investment Canada Act.
- The total labour expenditure qualifying for the Federal Content Credit may not exceed 60% of the cost of the production to the qualifying corporation.
- To be eligible, the production must be certified by CAVCO as a “Canadian Film or Video Production,” be made by a qualified corporation, be either a treaty co-production or a film or video production and meet certain requirements. Among other things:
- the producer must be a citizen or permanent resident of Canada
- the production must meet certain prescribed requirements relating to creative “points” and Canadian expenditures
- the production must not be an excluded production
- the production must not be controlled by a non-Canadian.
- In order to qualify as a “producer” the applicable individual must:
- control and be the central decision-maker for the production
- be directly responsible for the acquisition of the production, story or screenplay, and the development, creative and financial control and exploitation of the production
- be identified in the production as the producer.
- The term “Canadian” is defined as a Canadian citizen under the Citizenship Act, which includes a permanent resident under the Immigration Act, or a corporation that is Canadian-controlled, as determined for the purposes of the Investment Canada Act.
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