Production incentives
key statistics

Producer offset

This offset is administered by Screen Australia, and statistics are available in the Producer Offset section of the website.

Location and PDV Offsets for large-budget productions, 2001–2011

The Location Offset (known as the Refundable Film Tax Offset [RTFO] until July 2007) has been available to eligible production companies since 4 September 2001. The PDV Offset, which supports work on post, digital and visual effects production, has been available to eligible companies since 1 July 2007. To access the offsets, a company must first apply to the Ministry for the Arts in the Department of Communications and the Arts for a certificate of eligibility and determination of Qualifying Australian Production Expenditure (QAPE)¹ issued by the Minister for the Arts. The certificate is then submitted with the company’s tax return for the year in which the production is completed.

As of 30 June 2011, 33 feature films and 12 television projects had been certified as eligible for one of these mutually-exclusive offsets. The QAPE for these productions (as estimated by the Film Certification Advisory Board, which advises the Minister on the scheme) is over $2.4 billion, representing a potential aggregate benefit to the companies of $364.2 million (12.5 per cent of QAPE increasing to 15 per cent for those productions commencing principal photography on or after 8 May 2007).

In 2010/11, the aggregate benefit to companies was $16.9 million, approximately half the previous year. In the six years since 2005/06, the average benefit has been just over $40 million per year. The aggregate benefit has fluctuated significantly from year to year, with a low of $13.4 million in 2006/07 and a peak of $68.6 million in 2007/08.

Feature film and TV projects certified for Location, RFTO or PDV Offsets, 2005/06–20010/11

Source: Ministry for the Arts in the Department of Communications and the Arts (Formerly Office for the Arts, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet), October 2011.

Notes:
1. Total QAPE defines the costs eligible for the 15 per cent tax offset (12.5 per cent from September 2001 to May 2007); it is the production expenditure incurred in making a film that is reasonably attributable to:
– goods and services provided in Australia
– the use of land provided in Australia, or
– the use of goods that are located in Australia at the time they are used in the making of the film.
2. This amount represents the maximum possible benefit. That is, it does not take into account the companies’ tax liabilities which the offset amount is first applied against.