Reel West Productions

Alberta

The Alberta Film Development Program (AFDP) was launched through the Alberta Foundation for the Arts in 1998 to increase the opportunities available to Alberta’s film community by encouraging the Alberta production industry. A formula grant, the AFDP provides Alberta producers, or co-productions including such producers, with 20 percent of production expenditures made in the province, to a maximum of $750,000.

Alberta Film Development Program
c /o Alberta Film
5th Floor Commerce Place
10155 102 Street
Edmonton, Alberta
T5J 4L6
T: 780.422.8584
F: 780.422.8582
www.albertafilm.ca

British Columbia

Film Incentive BC (FIBC) is an economic initiative designed to encourage film, television, digital animation and visual effects production in British Columbia. Eligible applicants are film, television and animation production corporations that that are owned and controlled by British Columbians, and have incurred qualifying labour expenses in British Columbia while producing an eligible production in British Columbia. How FIBC WorksFIBC is a refundable corporate income tax credit. When filing tax returns, production corporations may claim a specified percentage of the labour costs incurred in making film, television, digital animation or visual effects productions. The credits are applied to reduce tax payable, and any remaining balance is paid to the corporation.The production corporation must apply to British Columbia Film to receive an eligibility certificate and a completion certificate for the production. In order to claim the FIBC tax credits, the production corporation must file a corporate income tax return, along with the certificates, to the Canada Revenue Agency. General Eligibility RulesProduction corporations and their productions must meet the following minimum conditions to qualify for FIBC:§ The production corporation claiming the tax credit must be Canadian owned and BC-controlled;§ The production corporation must own more than 50% of the copyright in the production;§ At least 75% of the principal photography days of the production must be done in British Columbia;§ At least 75% of the cost of producing the British Columbia portion of the production must be paid to BC-based individuals or corporations;§ At least 75% of the cost of post-production work for the production must be carried out in British Columbia;§ There are exceptions for treaty co-productions, interprovincial co-productions and documentary productions;§ Some genres are excluded from FIBC including, but not limited to, pornography, talk shows, news, live sports events, game shows, reality television, and advertising.

Tax Credit Value Tax credit amount calculated based on…
Basic 20% The qualified BC labour expenditure of the corporation.
Regional 12.5% The qualified BC labour expenditure of the corporation pro-rated by the number of days of principal photography in British Columbia outside of the designated Vancouver area to the total days of principal photography in British Columbia. This tax credit must be accessed in conjunction with the Basic tax credit.
Training 30% The amount paid to a BC-based individual registered in an approved training program. The tax credit is capped at 3% of the corporation's qualified BC labour expenditure and must be accessed in conjunction with the Basic tax credit.
Digital Animation or Visual Effects 15% The BC labour expenditures directly attributable to digital animation or visual effects activities. This tax credit must be accessed in conjunction with the Basic tax credit.

This document is intended as a general overview. It should not be relied upon to determine eligibility or the amount of an anticipated credit. For more information, please consult Part 5 of the Income Tax Act (British Columbia) and interpretation bulletins.

The Production Services Tax Credit (PSTC) is an economic initiative designed to encourage film, television, digital animation and visual effects production in British Columbia. Eligible applicants are film, television and animation production corporations that have incurred qualifying labour expenses in British Columbia. The PSTC is not subject to any Canadian content requirements and it is available to either international or Canadian productions produced in British Columbia.How the PSTC WorksThe PSTC is a refundable corporate income tax credit. When filing tax returns, production corporations may claim a specified percentage of the labour costs incurred in making film, television, digital animation or visual effects productions. The credits are applied to reduce tax payable, and any remaining balance is paid to the corporation.There is no limit on the PSTC that may be claimed on a particular production and there is no limit that a corporation or group of corporations can claim.The production corporation must apply to British Columbia Film to receive an accreditation certificate for the production. General Eligibility RulesProduction corporations and their productions must meet the following minimum conditions to qualify for the PSTC:§ Minimum budget levels:? For episodic television, episodes that are less than ½ hour - $100,000 per episode;? For episodic television, where episodes are all or substantially all animated and are less than ½ hour - $0 per episode;? For episodic television, episodes that are greater than ½ hour - $200,000 per episode;? In all other cases - $1,000,000;§ The corporation claiming the tax credit must own the copyright in the production or if the copyright owner does not qualify as an accredited production corporation the corporation that is contracted directly with the owner of the copyright in the production to provide production services may qualify;§ The corporation claiming the tax credit must have a permanent establishment in BC;§ Some genres are excluded from the PSTC including, but not limited to, pornography, talk shows, news, live sports events, game shows, reality television, and advertising.

Tax Credit Value Tax credit amount calculated based on…
Basic PSTC 11% The accredited qualified BC labour expenditure of the corporation.

Regional PSTC 6% The accredited qualified BC labour expenditure of the corporation pro-rated by the number of days of principal photography in British Columbia outside of the designated Vancouver area to the total days of principal photography in British Columbia. This tax credit must be accessed in conjunction with the Basic PSTC.

Digital Animation or Visual Effects PSTC 15% The accredited qualified BC labour expenditures directly attributable to digital animation or visual effects activities. This tax credit must be accessed in conjunction with the Basic PSTC.

British Columbia Film
2225 West Broadway,
Vancouver, British Columbia,
Canada V6K 2E4
Phone: 604-736-7997
Fax: 604-736-7290
Email: bcf@bcfilm.bc.ca
www.bcfilm.bc.ca

Manitoba

Manitoba Film & Sound - Tax Credit

HISTORY The Manitoba Film and Video Production Tax Credit was announced in the spring of 1997 to provide an incentive to the private film and television production industry to create economic employment growth in the province. It is effective for expenditures after December 31, 1996 and before March 2, 2005.

HOW IS THE TAX CREDIT CALCULATED The Manitoba Film and Video Production Tax Credit rebates 35% of approved Manitoba labour expenditures.

WHAT IF I NEED TO BRING IN A CREW As of April 28, 1998, where a non-resident is hired due to a lack of availabe, willing and/or qualified Manitoba crew, his/her salary may be deemed an eligible labour expenditure provided that at least one Manitoba resident receives training within the same department.

WHO CAN APPLY Applicant must have a permanent establishment in Manitoba, incorporated in Canada (either federally or provincially), must be a taxable Canadian corporation and does not hold a CRTC broadcasting licence. A minimum 25% of all corporation's salaries and wages must be paid in Manitoba to eligible employees.

ELIGIBLE PROJECTS Fully financed television movies, documentaries, feature films, dramatic series, variety, multimedia, animation, children's programming, music programming, informational series, and including digital and CD ROM production.

WHAT ABOUT CO-PRODUCTIONS The Manitoba Film and Video Production Tax Credit was designed to encourage outside collaboration with non-Manitoba producers.

SHARE OWNERSHIP Outside share ownership does not affect the ability to claim the credit unless the shareholders are corporations that hold a CRTC broadcasting licence.

LOCATION OF PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHY As this credit is labour based, filming outside of the province is allowable within the spirit and intent of the Act recognizing that certain productions eg. co-productions, documentaries and second unit, require shooting outside Manitoba.

CONTENT There are no Canada or Manitoba content requirements.

FEDERAL TAX CREDIT The Manitoba Tax Credit is compatible with the new Film Video Production Services Tax Credit.

Manitoba Film & Sound
410 - 93 Lombard Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3B 3B1
phone:204.947.2040
fax:204.956.5261
email: explore@mbfilmsound.mb.ca
web site: www.mbfilmsound.mb.ca
Copyright © Manitoba Film and Sound Recording Development Corporation

Saskatchewan

The Saskatchewan Film Employment Tax Credit is one of the most flexible and lucrative financial incentives offered. It was announced in the province's 1998/99 budget, and applies to eligible expenditures made after January 1, 1998. Like other Canadian provinces, the process of application for the credit includes an 'Initial' application for registration and a 'Final' application for a tax credit certificate. The certificate can then be filed with the corporation's tax return.

The tax credit will rebate 35% of the total wages of all Saskatchewan and deemed labour (labour is capped at 50% of the production budget).

The tax credit can be paid on "deemed labour" being approved non-Saskatchewan labour. There are no exclusions to positions that can be deemed.

In addition, the program provides for a Bonus of 5% of total Saskatchewan expenditures for productions based 40 km's outside the province's two major cities (Regina and Saskatoon). In this case the maximum credit is increased to 22.5% of the total production budget.

An out of province company would co-venture with a Saskatchewan production company in one of two ways:
Form a single purpose company headquartered in Saskatchewan for the sole purpose of producing the project. This single purpose entity would not have to share in copyright ownership, but would have to meet all requirements as set out for Production Company eligibility above, and the Saskatchewan partner would have at least 50% control of the entity.

Set up traditional a co-production between an eligible Saskatchewan based company and an out of province company or companies. In this case, the Saskatchewan based company must be the entity applying for and receiving the credit.

OTHER FEATURES OF THE PROGRAM

There are no copyright requirements.

There are no Canadian or Saskatchewan content requirements.

There are no corporate or project caps.

As with other tax credits, the amounts due to the production company may be offset if it owes taxes, interest, penalty or payments in respect of employer contributions to Employment Insurance or the Canada Pension Plan.

No administration fee is charged to administer the tax credit. However, there is a provision for administration fees for deemed labour, which is handled through the Crew Call office.

A unique advantage of this program is the ability of producers to include all above-the-line salaries and wages in the calculation of the tax credit.

Sask Film
1831 College Avenue
Regina, Saskatchewan
Canada
S4P 3V7

P: 306-798-3456
F: 306-798-7768
Toll Free: 1-800-561-9933
www.saskfilm.com

Yukon

Yukon Film Incentive Program
Canada’s Yukon is known as a film-friendly region.

And we’re willing to put our money where our mouth is as we invite your production to take advantage of the Yukon’s spectacular locations.

We are offering these financial incentives to eligible productions:

The Travel Rebate can assist your production in the cost of getting here.
The Yukon Labour Rebate can refund up to 35% of wages paid for eligible Yukon labour on your production.
Yukon Film Incentive Program Policy

Yukon Filmmakers Fund Application

Click to download, then view and print with Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you don’t have Acrobat, you can download it free from Adobe’s site Acrobat

Email: info@reelyukon.com
www.reelyukon.com

Canada Customs, Immigration
Persons or companies wishing to import goods for movie productions should contact Canada Customs before the movement of any goods. You should have complete details of any trip you are planning, including what items you are bringing, before contacting Canada Customs. Contact Customs and Excise and Taxation Communication Branch, Government of Canada, Ottawa, ON K1A 0L5.
Tel: 1-800-461-9999.

Employment and Immigration
Canadian Visa offices overseas, and Canadian Ports of Entry (for US citizens only) can issue employment authorization for foreign nationals wishing to work in Canada. Film and television producers who wish to bring foreign workers to Canada should contact the Canada Employment Centre in Yellowknife. Tel: (867) 669-5002. Crews of three or less coming into Canada for a period of less than six weeks to produce travelogues and documentaries for non-Canadian audiences are exempt from these procedures.

GST (Goods and Services Tax)
Virtually all Canadian production costs, other than employee payroll and basic groceries, are subject to the 7% GST. You may recover the cost of the GST you have paid out if you are registered for the GST with Revenue Canada, Customs and Excise. For information outside Canada, call: (902) 432-5608, or, visit Revenue Canada: http://www.ccra-adrc.gc.ca/

There is no sales tax in Alberta or the Northwest Territories.

Payroll Tax
All employers must deduct at source one percent of all wages, benefits and allowances, including accommodation, paid in a calendar year to an employee working in the Northwest Territories. The minimum exempt earnings in a year are $5000. If an employee is paid more than that amount, all earnings while working in the NWT are taxable. For information contact Taxation Division, Government of the Northwest Territories, 1-800-661-0820 or (867) 920-3470.

http://www.gov.nt.ca/RWED/nwtfilm/