Overseas shooting discounts are a wide variety of tax rebates become the main attraction

Local policies continue to be favorable and foreign discounts are also quite attractive. The biggest beneficiaries are undoubtedly those who want to make good movies.

The hit release of "Lost in Thailand" in 2012 greatly promoted the development of Thailand's tourism industry. Thailand is still one of the popular destinations for Chinese people to travel abroad. The shooting of transnational films has a significant effect on promoting the development of tourism. At the same time, the arrival of the crew can directly contribute to the local economy by using the equipment, services, human resources, etc. of the shooting place.

Nowadays, many countries have introduced welfare policies for foreign film filming teams, encouraging them to come to shoot locally. During this year's Shanghai International Film Festival, tourism agencies from many countries also came to Shanghai to promote their local preferential policies for overseas film and television filming, hoping to rely on the Shanghai International Film Festival as a platform to attract more film and TV drama crews. Go to the scene and shoot.

United States: With a preferential tax refund policy of more than 20%, New York, a well-functioning shooting base

, is the first choice for almost all China films to be filmed in the United States. Across the state of New York, there are 81 government-recognized qualified film and television bases, 327 studios and 16 regional film and television management assistance agencies. In addition to New York City, New York State's Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Long Island and other areas also have excellent film and television shooting bases.

Film and television works produced and completed in New York State can enjoy a full 30% tax refund and are not subject to sales tax on film production activities. As the second largest film industry base in the United States, New York State has spared no effort in supporting films. By 2019, New York State will allocate film incentive bonuses as high as US$420 million.

Virginia in the United States has also been selected as a filming location for many films, such as the Oscar-nominated film "Lincoln". The Virginia government has a 3000-acre exterior shooting site that can be used for free by domestic and foreign film crews. It includes mountains, forests, farmland and other scenes, and the scenes span as long as 300 years.

In order to attract more foreign film crews to come to Virginia to shoot, Virginia has also introduced preferential tax policies. Film crews can enjoy a tax exemption of up to 20% when purchasing Virginia goods, services and other services (including non-residents). Hiring local Virginia residents as crew members will receive an additional 10-20% tax deduction. Borrowing filming materials and equipment is exempt from Virginia business and use taxes; most accommodation taxes will be waived if the crew stays at the hotel for more than 30 days; and accommodation taxes will be waived if the crew stays for more than 90 days. The crew applies to shoot in Virginia and there is no minimum cost threshold. If the content will help promote Virginia's tourism industry, you can also apply for subsidy funds.

There is also Hawaii, a popular island tourist destination, where many domestic movies and reality shows have been filmed. The state government of Hawaii provides a one-stop shooting license application service for foreign film crews; in terms of tax policy, it provides foreign film crews with a tax refund of up to 20-25%.

Canada: The federal and local governments provide different tax exemption policies. The two can be superimposed.

Canada's film and television tax exemptions are divided into two categories. One is the tax exemption for production services. This type of exemption has no Canadian content requirements and can be enjoyed by hiring Canadian practitioners; The other category is the tax exemption for Canadian original films, which requires relevant Canadian content in the film; only one of the two tax exemption policies can be applied for.

Canada's federal government and local governments have different regulations on tax exemptions, and the two can be superimposed. Production services tax relief, the federal government provides a 16% labor cost tax credit. Film projects that enjoy this tax relief need to invest more than 1 million Canadian dollars, and TV projects within 30 minutes need to exceed 100,000 Canadian dollars per episode. For more than 30 minutes, more than 200,000 Canadian dollars per episode. For Canadian original films, the federal government provides a higher tax exemption, with a 25% tax exemption on eligible labor costs.

British Colombia (also known as BC) in Canada is the fourth largest film and television center in North America, and the largest city, Vancouver, is the third largest production center in North America. BC's production services tax exemption policy stipulates that eligible provincial expenditures can receive a 33% tax credit; computer special effects and digital animation can enjoy an additional 17.5% labor cost tax credit; if 50% of the work is filmed outside the Vancouver area of the province, enjoy an additional 6% intra-provincial labor cost tax credit. The original film tax exemption policy stipulates that eligible labor cost expenditures can receive a 35% tax exemption; computer special effects and digital animation labor expenditures can enjoy an additional 17.5% credit; if more than 50% of the work is filmed outside Vancouver in the province, Enjoy a labor cost refund of 12.5%-18.5%.

Animation and post-production in Ontario, Canada is developing rapidly. There are a large number of professional computer animation and digital visual effects companies. Many films not filmed in Ontario also choose to come here to complete visual effects production. In Ontario, you can enjoy a 21.5% tax exemption on production services, including an additional 18% reduction in labor costs for computer special effects and digital animation production costs. Original films in Ontario can enjoy a 35% labor cost tax exemption, and an additional 10% labor cost exemption if more than 85% of all shooting days (at least five days) on the shooting schedule are filmed outside the Greater Toronto area of the province.

The tax refund amounts for film and television filming in other provinces also vary. Quebec has a 20% tax exemption for production services, and computer effects and digital animation enjoy an additional 16% labor cost tax credit; original film tax exemption, and original films in French or big-screen format can enjoy a maximum of 40% of the credit and a 36% labor cost credit; English films have a lower tax credit. Alberta can deduct 25% of labor costs and 29% of non-labor costs; shooting in the province for 30 consecutive days, or 8 Albertans can enjoy an additional 1% tax credit.

In addition, any producer from 54 countries with which Canada has signed co-production agreements (including China, but only films) can co-produce films with Canadian production companies. In addition to applying for tax credits, transnational co-filming projects that have signed an official contract with Canada can also apply for funding such as the Canadian Feature Film Fund and the Canadian Media Fund.

In addition to major film and television industry countries such as the United States and Canada, there are also a number of small countries that have introduced attractive filming support policies in order to attract foreign film crews to shoot in China, such as the Mediterranean island country of Malta. The crew's budget expenditure for filming locally reaches 200,000 euros, and the actual expenditure is no less than 100,000 euros. They can receive the following cash refund: 25% of the actual expenditure locally; if the project is set in Malta and reflects Malta cultural elements, an additional 2% can be added; in addition, 18% value-added tax and 7% of hotel accommodation expenses can be refunded.

Editor: jessica