Film Incentive BC (FIBC) is designed to promote film, television, digital animation and visual effects production in British Columbia. FIBC provides refundable tax credits to eligible companies that produce eligible film or video productions in BC.
The FIBC program includes five tax credits:
*For productions with principal photography beginning on or after October 1, 2016, the basic FIBC tax credit will decrease to 28% and the DAVE tax credit rate will decrease to 16%.
Eligible applicants are Canadian-controlled film, television and animation production companies that have a permanent establishment in BC. The production company must have incurred qualifying BC labour expenses while making an eligible production. The minimum conditions (from Creative BC) are:
For full eligibility requirements, please read the BC Ministry of Finance’s bulletin: CIT 009 BC Film and Television Tax Credit.
In order to claim the FIBC tax credits, your production company must file a corporation income tax return to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). You must also apply to Creative BC to receive an eligibility and completion certificate for your production and attach it to your tax return.
When filing taxes, your company may claim a percentage of the BC labour costs incurred while making a production. The credits are applied to reduce the taxes payable, and any remaining balance is paid to the company. The credits must be claimed within 36 months after the end of your taxation year.
Detailed information on how to claim the credits is available on the Ministry of Finance page on Film and Television Tax Credit.
The Production Services Tax Credit (PSTC), like FIBC, is a labour-based credit intended to promote film production in BC. However, it has no Canadian content requirements and is available to both international and domestic production companies producing in BC.
A production company may only access either FIBC or the PSTC for a production but not both. For detailed information, refer to Creative BC’s summary of the PSTC.
Hall & Company is an accounting firm specializing in Canadian film production accounting, with a strong understand of federal and BC film tax credits. If you are in need of a film accountant or have questions about the film tax credits available to you, send us a message and we’d be happy to hear more about your project.
BC Ministry of Finance – Film and Television Tax Credit