Here are the tax credits defined by the interministerial decree signed by two Ministries concerning the support to the cinema and the audiovisual sector.
The interministerial decree signed by Minister Franceschini in agreement with the Italian Minister for the Economy and Finance provides mainly two lines of action: the first line establishes huge incentives for distribution companies and for the enhancement of the film offer in cinemas. The second line of action aims to attract investments from companies in the audiovisual and non-audiovisual sectors.
Incentives for distribution. The tax credit shall not exceed €2m nor 50% of the total cost of distribution of the audio-visual projects. This implementation is addressed to all those projects which distribution cost is not less than €40 thousand for fiction features and €20 thousand for documentaries and short films. Distributors who may be eligible for these incentives must have their registered office in Europe and be subject to Italian taxation. The credit will be recognized as long as it is requested within 180 days from the first release date of the film in the theatres or within 18 months from the date of their screening license.
Incentives for movie theatres: in this case, the tax credit will be allocated to those companies that make new theatres or restore and renovate equipment, furnishings or ancillary services. The allocation will be of €20m for this tax credit set by the Cinema and Audiovisual Fund. The amount granted to each individual company shall not exceed €2m euros. The credit will be granted through a prior request submitted at least 120 days before the beginning of the project to the Directorate-General for Cinema. Subsequently, within 90 days from the end of the projects, a final request will be released.
The second guideline provides a strategy to attract companies in the audiovisual and non-audiovisual sectors. In the case of companies belonging to this sector, the expected tax credit is of €25m. Executive production and post-production companies with taxation or permanent establishment in Italy are eligible for this fund.
The recognized fund for the companies which do not belong to the sector will be instead of €10m and it will be granted only if the company in question is associated with participation in film production companies. In both cases, the granting of the fund will be submitted to a prior request to the Directorate-General for Cinema.
