Guidelines
What is the Producer Offset?

The Producer Offset is a refundable tax offset (i.e. a rebate) for producers of Australian films, worth:

• 40 per cent of the QAPE incurred by the applicant company in the making of a feature film, and
• 20 per cent of the QAPE incurred by the applicant company in the making of TV and other eligible projects, other than feature films.

Films are only eligible for the 40 per cent offset if they are feature films produced for exhibition to the public in cinemas and meet all offset requirements. A film will only be eligible for the feature film offset if the primary release strategy for the film is a release in public cinemas. Films produced for home entertainment, TV or VOD release are not eligible for the 40 per cent offset but are eligible for the 20 per cent offset if they meet all offset requirements. The higher offset is available for feature films because they generally have higher production costs and it can also be more difficult to finance feature films because they are one-off projects. Refer to Feature Films and Distribution.

The Producer Offset is one of three refundable tax offsets for film production; the others are administered by the Department of Communication and the Arts (the Department):

• the Location Offset, a 16.5 per cent offset on QAPE for film and television projects filmed in Australia with an Australian spend of over $15 million
• the Post, Digital and Visual effects (PDV) Offset, a 30 per cent offset on the QAPE that relates to post, digital and visual effects production for a film.

Please note that the ITAA uses the term ‘film’ to refer to all eligible formats. These guidelines use the term ‘project’, unless quoting the ITAA.