Running an estimate
- Choose where you're shooting. US states are listed first, then countries. The number in brackets is the base rate.
- Enter the total production budget. For countries, the field is in that country's currency, so a French shoot is entered in euros.
- Enter the share of the budget spent locally on qualifying costs.
- If the program has uplifts, a checkbox appears. Tick it to add the maximum uplift percentage listed for that program.
The link in the program card goes to the full page for that jurisdiction, with the rules, how to apply, and the sources the figures came from. Only programs with an active incentive and a percentage rate are in the list.
The math
- Qualified spend = budget × local share %
- Rate = base rate, plus the uplift if ticked
- Incentive = qualified spend × rate
- If the program has a per-project cap, the incentive is limited to it
- If qualified spend is under the program's minimum, the estimate is $0
Worked example: Georgia at the defaults
The calculator opens on Georgia with a $1,500,000 budget and 70% local qualifying spend.
- Qualified spend: $1,500,000 × 70% = $1,050,000
- Minimum: Georgia's is $500,000, so the project clears it
- Base credit: $1,050,000 × 20% = $210,000
- With the uplift ticked: $1,050,000 × 30% = $315,000
The Georgia Film Office describes a 20% transferable credit with a 10% uplift for providing promotional value, a $500,000 annual minimum, and no annual cap. Georgia's credit is transferable, so if the production sells it, the cash received will be less than $315,000.
Now drop the budget to $600,000. At 70%, qualified spend is $420,000, which is under the $500,000 minimum, and the card reads $0 with "Below the minimum spend". But Georgia lets the minimum be met across several projects from the same company in one tax year, which the calculator can't see.
When a cap applies
Switch to Wisconsin and enter $5,000,000 at 70%. Qualified spend is $3,500,000, and 30% of that is $1,050,000. Film Wisconsin lists a $1 million cap per applicant, so the estimate stops at $1,000,000 and the card notes that it was capped.
The same example shows a limit of the tool. Wisconsin's minimum is $100,000 in W-2 wages (or $50,000 for projects under 30 minutes), not total qualified spend, and the calculator compares its minimum against qualified spend. Read the program page for how each minimum is measured.
What the estimate can't tell you
- Annual program caps. A state with a fixed yearly allocation can run out, and approval order matters. The tool only applies per-project caps.
- Which costs qualify. One percentage stands in for line-by-line rules on qualified spend, resident crew, and above-the-line limits.
- Partial uplifts. The checkbox adds the full uplift. Many uplifts have their own conditions, such as a logo in the credits, local hires, or shooting in a particular region.
- Resident labor rules, where a program pays a different rate on wages to local residents.
- Timing. Credits and rebates are paid after the audit, which comes after the spend, so the money can't fund the shoot unless someone lends against it.
- Transfer discounts and fees for transferable credits, and audit costs.
- Currency. There's no conversion. A budget entered for the UK is treated as pounds.
Every jurisdiction's figures carry a last-checked date in the note under the tool. Programs change with state budgets and new legislation, so confirm with the film office and a production accountant before the incentive goes into your finance plan.
Going further
How film tax credits work explains the difference between credits, rebates, and grants, and transferable vs refundable tax credits covers what each is worth in cash. Browse every program on the incentives hub, or start with Georgia.
Storiara's Funding module matches a project's locations, shoot days, and budget against a built-in list of incentive programs and estimates their value, and an incentive can be applied to the budget from there.