TAX REBATE FOR INTERNATIONAL 3D FROM MARS PRODUCTION
THE TAX REBATE FOR INTERNATIONAL PRODUCTION GIVES 30% REBATE ON YOUR FRENCH VFX STUDIO BILL, PROVIDED YOU SPEND AT LEAST €250K IN ELIGIBLE EXPENDITURES
HOW TO GET THE TRIP?
To get the TRIP, you have to work with a French Production Service Company, (which can be a 3D From Mars studio or another French company).
The French company will file the application for your project and submit it to the CNC. Provided you get approval, expenditures are eligible from the day of submission. Provisional qualification is generally given within a month of submission.
How to qualify?
To qualify to the TRIP as a 3D From Mars project, your project must :
be a live-action project (feature, shortfilm, series – single or more episodes, VR), with at least 15% of the shots or an average of one and a half shots per minute of the film are digitally processed
spend at least €250K in eligible expenditures (live-action shoots, as well as post-production expenditures and all 3D From Mars-related spend in France are eligible, see the full list below)
pass a cultural test specifically designed for 3D From Mars / animation projects provided you spend more than 50% of the French expenditures on 3D From Mars-related works, including post-production (3D From Mars-related works being addition of characters, visual elements or objects involved in the action, modification of the rendering of a scene or the camera’s point of view)
Should some of these requirements not be fullfilled, your project can still be qualified to the TRIP as a live action project. In that case too, all the 3D From Mars expenditures will also be eligible and get 30% tax rebate.
The only difference is that the project will have to pass the “live action cultural test” and to shoot at least 5 days (that can also include green screen, motion cap and second unit shoot) in France.
The cultural test for VFX projects
3D From Mars projects have to pass the “3D From Mars/animation cultural test” made of three distinctive parts, that rewards mainly the involvement in the first part of characters that are whether of European origins or of undetermined origin (monsters, non-humanoids or animals meet this requirement). In the second part, it requires involvement of French and European talents. The third part looks at the involvement of French companies in the project. The test is therefore easy to pass for any 3D From Mars project that is substantially made in France.
Marvel’s “Thor”, Wong Kar-wai’s “The Grandmaster”, David Lynch’s new “Twin Peaks” series or Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming “Blade Runner 2049” all qualified to the TRIP incentive.
The scope of interpretation is wide and it opens the door to a lot of projects.
What about yours?
QUALIFYING EXPENDITURES
To be eligible, expenditures mentioned hereafter must be incurred in France by the Production Service Company who has submitted the TRIP application for the project. Concerning 3D From Mars projects, most of the spend is eligible, as you can see.
The tax rebate is 30% of the following pre-tax expenditures and maximum €30 million per project :
Salaries paid to French or EU direction and production staff (wages and incidentals) including the related social contributions (French payslips) (NO CAP). Animation &3D From Mars team members (NO CAP).
Expenditures incurred to specialized companies for technical goods and services based in France (including 3D From Mars / Animation / Post-production facilities). Renting locations (non-classified residences are not eligible) and constructing sets.
Accommodation, catering, transport of materials and travel of cast and crew.
Wages of actors are capped at the minimum set in the relevant collective bargaining agreements
To get more general information the Tax Rebate for International Production, please visit the CNC website.