UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FILMING INCENTIVES

Rhode Island: The Motion Picture Production Tax Credit

Overview

Type of incentiveTax Credit
Qualifying formats
  • - Feature film - fiction (theatrical)
  • - Feature film - documentary (theatrical)
  • - TV Film or TV series - fiction
  • - TV Film or TV series - documentary
  • - Commercials (TV, theatrical, online)
  • - Post production/special effects for film & tv (fiction)
  • - Post production/special effects for film & tv (non-fiction)
  • - Video/online gaming production
Qualifying productions
  • - National productions
  • - Foreign productions

Specifics

Benefit as a % of spend25.00
Financial cap per production5000000
Do I have to register/set up a company?Yes
Does foreign cast/crew paid in their home country/region qualify as expenditure? No
Do foreign cast/crew have to pay tax in the host country/state/region? Yes
Does travel to/from country/region qualify as expenditure? No
Can a production qualify for other national incentives such as cultural programmes if it qualifies for this incentive? No
Criteria to access the benefit
  • - Minimum percentage of the film that must be shot in the region: 51.00%
  • - Minimum spend 100000 (in local currency)
  • - TV Broadcast or theatrical distribution contract required
When will the benefit/incentive be received?
  • - On submission of audited accounts
  • - State approx. number of months after completion of audited accounts
Additional incentives or advantages
  • - There are no salary caps, but there is a $5 million project cap, which can and will be waived for qualifying motion picture and TV productions. Total production budget must exceed $100,000. For documentaries, a minimum of 51% of the principal photography must be shot on the ground in Rhode Island, or 51% of final production budget provided 5 different personnel are employed. $15M annual cap.

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