Tax incentives

International productions can access tax deductions on Corporation Tax, applicable to the spanish production companies registered on the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport’s Film Company Register who are managing the foreign production. This means that it’s the “service company” which takes on the executive production and which carries out the tax procedures involved in applying for a tax rebate.

Details of the tax deduction contemplated in Article 36.2 of the Corporation Tax Law:

• 30% Tax rebate of the first million Euros and 25% for the rest of the expenditure made in Spain.
• Foreign production types: Feature length films, television series, animated films and documentaries.
• Maximum rebate limit: 10 million Euros.
• Beneficiaries: Spanish companies which are registered in the Film and Audio-visual Arts Institute’s register of audio-visual producers.
• Rebate base: eligible expenses produced in Spain.
• Eligible expenses: creative staff with a registered address in the country or in another European Union member state, up to a maximum of 100.000€ per person/technical or complementary service.
• Minimum expense incurred in Spain: 1 M€ in production expenses, 200.000€  for pre-production and post-production expenses for animation and visual effects.
• Procedure: the refund must applied by the Spanish company, during the month of July of the year after the end of filming.

The law includes further details which are not listed here, so we recommend you to read Article 36.2 in its entirety and, in addition, the replies posted by the Spanish Tax Agency. (Some of these are featured in the Frequently Asked Questions section of the Spain Film Commission page).

Spanish productions and international co-productions can gain access to tax credit on Corporation Tax once they have obtained their Spanish nationality and cultural certificates issued by the ICAA and once a copy of the production has been deposited at the Spanish Film Archive or in a film library which is officially recognised in an Autonomous Community.

Details of the tax deduction contemplated in Article 36.1 of the Corporation Tax Law:

• 30% Tax credit of the first million Euros and 25% for the rest of the expenditure made in Spain.
• Production types: Feature length films, television series, animated films and documentaries.
• Base for the deduction: the total production cost plus the cost of copies, advertising and promotion financed by the producer (with a limit of 40% of the production cost).
• Maximum rebate limit: 10 million Euros. Total tax incentive amount received must not exceed 50% of the production cost.
• The law establishes a territorial requirement and 50% of the deduction base must correspond to the expenses incurred in Spain.
• Minimum expense incurred in Spain: 1 M€ in production expenses, 200.000€  for pre-production and post-production expenses for animation and visual effects.
• Once the film’s nationality certificate has been obtained and the rest of the requirements have been fulfilled, the tax rebate can be applied for during the month of July in the year after the production end-date.
  

International co-productions governed by international agreements and those considered national are treated as national productions, and this means that they can benefit from tax rebates for investment in film and audiovisual productions, as well as being able to apply for funding from the ICAA for creation, production and promotion. In the case of a co-production, the amounts will be determined for each co-producer, according to their respective share-percentage of the co-production.

The law includes further details which are not listed here, so we recommend you to read Article 36.1 in its entirety and, in addition, the replies posted by the Spanish Tax Agency. (Some of these are featured in the Frequently Asked Questions section of the Spain Film Commission page).