Variety: Changes to Ireland’s film and TV production tax incentive now make the country one of the most generous production environments in the world.
On Jan. 1, 2015, Ireland upped its tax incentive, known as Section 481, from 28% to 32% and amended the credit so that non-European Union talent, including Hollywood actors and actresses, will count as part of the qualifying expenditure.
3 comments:
Having recently read an article about an increase in film production in British Columbia after an increase in tax breaks given, I thought that I could simply rephrase my comment from then to fit this article. I was wrong.
For starters, Ireland has not only increased it's tax incentive from 28% to 32%,it has also taken away restrictions on the hiring of EU or Irish production workers, meaning that American production companies wishing to shoot in Ireland may import their own performers and technicians. These generous allowances come with a rather sizable caveat, however. Films, documentaries, animated features, and TV shows that use these allowances must pass an Irish cultural test, or "qualify as an official co-production under one of Ireland’s bilateral co-production treaties or under the European Convention on Cinematographic Co-Production."
That is to say, these provisions (which aren't permanent, either, as they expire in 2020, unless renewed)come with a cost, and aren't available to just any film. So, sorry, Iron Man 6, you'll have to go back to Canada, with the others.
The reason that I decided to read this article was because this past Friday I was learning about tax incentives and game theory in my Econ recitation. When I first made the decision to take Econ I wasn’t sure how it was going to transfer to the drama and entertainment field, but I have been astonished at the amount of times the subject of economics has come up in those classes. One question I have is what will the UK do now that Ireland has essentially matched them? Also, will Ireland see an increase in the amount of movies that are filmed in the country? Now that Hollywood actors are included in this, do they think there will be increase in American actors going over seas? I look forward to seeing what this does for Ireland and how this will affect the rest of the production world, at least until 2020 roles around.
This article poses a really interesting dynamic in Ireland’s artistic sphere. Obviously from a monetary standpoint, having an increased number of outside productions filming in Ireland is good for the economy. But this may present a problem to local talent and productions. Obviously this new tax law can also be applied to smaller or more local productions, and maybe some of the larger productions will hire local extras or crew. But what the Irish government has done here is prioritize non-Irish, big budget productions, instead of cultivating local Irish artists. Which is fine, I guess, since maybe some Irish artists will also benefit. But the increased amount of big ticket productions might ‘push out’ the smaller productions so to speak. It could also drive up the cost of production equipment, labor, talent, and location, making it hard for low budget films to be produced. Hopefully Ireland will enact policies to protect and help smaller, local productions to balance out this new tax incentive.
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