Who uses it
The PDV Offset is built for productions that shoot elsewhere and bring VFX, animation, sound post, or picture post to Australia. A VFX producer awarding shots across vendors in several countries will compare net costs after incentives, and the PDV Offset puts Australian vendors on that comparison sheet next to Canadian, UK, and New Zealand ones.
Spend qualifies as QAPE (qualifying Australian production expenditure) when it's for PDV work done in Australia. The claimant is a company, and the offset is paid as a refund through its tax return after the Office for the Arts issues a final certificate, so the money comes after the work is done.
A VFX package in numbers
A US feature shoots in Georgia and awards 180 VFX shots. The VFX producer is choosing where to place a large package. All vendor bids below are assumptions, converted at an assumed A$1.00 = US$0.65.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Australian vendor bid, 120 shots | A$2,400,000 |
| Australian sound post and DI | A$300,000 |
| PDV QAPE total | A$2,700,000 |
| Meets A$500,000 minimum? | Yes |
| PDV Offset at 30% | A$810,000 |
| Net Australian PDV cost | A$1,890,000 (about US$1,228,500) |
If the production had placed only the sound post and DI in Australia (A$300,000), it would fall under the A$500,000 threshold and get nothing. Adding a 20-shot package worth A$250,000 would take it to A$550,000 and an offset of A$165,000.
Things that trip up productions
The one-offset rule catches productions that shoot in Australia and plan to claim the Location Offset for the shoot and the PDV Offset for VFX. They have to choose. If the shoot spend is too low for the Location Offset threshold but the PDV spend clears A$500,000, the PDV Offset may be the only one available.
Currency and timing matter too. The offset is in Australian dollars and arrives after completion and certification, so the budget should show the offset at a conservative exchange rate and allow for financing costs until it's paid.
Treat "PDV" narrowly. Costs have to relate to post, digital, or visual effects production, and the guidelines decide what counts. Your production accountant and the Australian vendor should map each cost to the rules before the award.
Comparing it with other options
For projects with Australian content, the producer offset is usually the better fit. For foreign shoots, compare the PDV Offset with incentives at the shoot location using the incentive calculator, and see the Australia incentive page for state programs that can add to the federal offset.