Film Tax Credit Extended
Nova Scotia will continue to attract film and television productions from around the world, thanks to a 10-year extension to the province's film tax credit.
The government is also increasing the tax credit from 30 to 35 per cent for productions in downtown Halifax Regional Municipality, and from 35 to 40 per cent for areas 30 kilometres or more from the city core. In addition, a frequent-film bonus of five per cent is being introduced for companies that shoot two projects in the province over a two-year period.
"The investment guarantees that Nova Scotia will remain an attractive option for new productions and that our regulatory and tax climate will continue to match our abundant natural advantages in location, community support, and technical expertise," said Premier John Hamm, today, March 8. "We are building on the spirit of long-term vision and co-operation that has made Nova Scotia a competitive alternative in an increasingly crowded field."
The 10-year time frame of the tax credit gives producers the stability they need to plan for future production decisions, and it gives the Nova Scotia industry a critical marketing tool for attracting more foreign productions.
"The tax credit system promotes employment in communities throughout Nova Scotia, since it is calculated on eligible Nova Scotia labour," said Economic Development Minister Ernest Fage. "The industry forms important links with training programs for our youth and the tax credit is key to the industry's ability to maintain the crew levels, studio space, equipment houses and other infrastructure that has developed in Nova Scotia over the past decade."
Premier Hamm also announced an additional $600,000 for the Nova Scotia Film Development Corporation to use toward existing programming in 2005-06. The CEO of the film corporation, Ann MacKenzie, predicted that the additional funding could lever an extra $15 million of production activity in the province.
"The film business is a labour-intensive, environmentally friendly, global industry that puts the province on the map like no other sector can," said Ms. MacKenzie. "With the enhancements announced today, the film corporation can increase local production and prepare a marketing campaign to go head-to-head with other jurisdictions in attracting even more guest-production activity."
The cost of the enhancements would be about $1.5 million dollars, which would be returned to the province in personal tax revenues and spin-offs, according to an economic-impact assessment of the film industry done in 2004.
The province's film industry has generated more than $100 million of production activity in each of the last six years and consistently employs about 2,000 Nova Scotians.