Lithuanian parliament has approved a boost to the country’s film production tax incentive, increasing it from 20% to 30%. The new level will take effect from January 1, 2019 and the legislation has been renewed for the next five-year period.
Country‘s filming profile has been rising in recent years, with high-profile, big-budget. dramas. Lithuania has hosted numerous major international productions in recent years, including HBO‘s Chernobyl, BBC‘s War and Peace, Netflix’s Tokyo Trial and many more. During the first 4 year period until 2018, Lithuania received €24.4 million worth of investment from foreign film producers. A total of 68 filmmakers made use of the tax incentive, and 23 international movies benefited from the scheme.
2018 has been a grand year to Lithuanian film industry - expenditure on film production is expected to be total €27 million with more than €5 million of that amount coming from local businesses.
During the 4 year period when the tax incentive for film production was offered Lithuania managed to entrench itself in the market of audiovisual services exports and successfully compete with both neighbouring and Western European countries. Local film professionals have earned trust of the most prominent film production companies. This enhances the image of the Lithuanian film industry as a reliable partner.
The updated tax incentive is available for fiction films, TV films, documentaries and animation films. At least 80% of eligible film production costs must be incurred in Lithuania and the total amount of eligible spend in Lithuania has to be no less than 43,000 EUR. The incentives has been extended until the end of 2023.
