# Kit rental

Source: https://storiara.com/glossary/kit-rental
Last updated: 2026-09-14
Author: Charles Hirschhorn, Storiara

> A kit rental is a daily or weekly fee paid to a crew member for using their personal equipment or supplies on a production, such as a makeup artist's kit, a hair stylist's tools, or a medic's bag. It's written into the deal memo, budgeted in the department's account apart from wages, and generally not treated as payroll.

## How it's written on a deal memo

A kit rental is its own line on the [deal memo](https://storiara.com/glossary/deal-memo), right under the rate. For a key makeup artist on a small feature:

```
Rate:        $2,750 / week (5 days, 10 hours guaranteed per day)
Kit rental:  $300 / week, shoot weeks only
Inventory:   Attached, signed
```

Production pays the $2,750 through payroll and the $300 separately, often through accounts payable. Over a 4-week shoot, kit comes to 4 x $300 = $1,200.

## Why it stays off payroll

Rental payments aren't wages, so [fringes](https://storiara.com/glossary/fringes) don't apply. If the kit rental were paid through payroll as wages, the $1,200 above would pick up employer payroll taxes and, on a union show, possibly benefit contributions. At a 15% fringe, that's $1,200 x 0.15 = $180 in avoidable cost. Kit should also stay out of the regular rate used for [overtime](https://storiara.com/glossary/overtime), which is one more reason to keep it in a separate line.

## The inventory matters

Productions ask for a signed kit inventory for two reasons. It shows the rental is for real equipment, which supports treating it as rent. And if something is lost or damaged, loss and damage claims go against the inventory, not a verbal list. Without a pre-shoot inventory, a claim for a stolen kit is hard to prove.

## Where it goes in the budget

Kit rentals belong in each department's account, next to the labor lines: makeup kit in the makeup account, medic kit with the set medic, and so on. A budget that forgets them is short several hundred dollars a week per department. Consumables that get used up faster than expected, like extra blood for a horror shoot, are usually handled as purchases on a [purchase order](https://storiara.com/glossary/purchase-order) or through [petty cash](https://storiara.com/glossary/petty-cash) rather than by raising the kit fee.

## Kit versus box

Many shows split personal supplies (kit) from tools and small equipment ([box rental](https://storiara.com/glossary/box-rental)), but the budget treatment is the same. What matters is that the deal memo says which it is, the amount, the unit (day or week), and whether it applies to prep. The [kit rentals and box rentals](https://storiara.com/blog/kit-rentals-and-box-rentals) post has typical department examples.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is kit rental taxable income?

It isn't wages, so production doesn't withhold payroll taxes or apply fringes. It's still income to the crew member, and production may need to issue an information return depending on the annual total. Have your production accountant decide how it's reported.

### What's the difference between a kit rental and a box rental?

Many productions use the terms interchangeably. When they're separated, 'kit' usually means consumables and personal supplies (makeup, hair products, first aid), and 'box' means a tool box or small equipment.

### Should kit rentals be paid for prep and wrap days?

Only if the kit is in use. A common approach is to pay kit for shoot weeks and any prep days where the kit is used for tests or fittings.