The Finnish government September 1 announced the decision to push forward a cash rebate incentive model after concluding the annual workshop between government members in which the state budget is balanced. After this, the state budget will receive its final approval from the Parliament, but generally the decisions taken in the workshop (budjettiriihi) hold the parliament stamp.
The cash rebate of 25 percent will be admitted for the money spent on local goods, services and salaries in conjunction with production work carried out in Finland. Applicable productions include feature films, fiction series, documentary films and animations. The more detailed criteria will be established once the final decisions are made. The incentive program is planned to kick off in early 2017.
The budgetary allocations for the incentive are divided evenly between the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment together with the Ministry of Education and Culture. Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation, will administer the instrument.
“The adoption of the incentive makes Finland a highly competitive candidate for shooting major international productions. Our beautiful and versatile landscape together with good infrastructure and skilled workforce is a combination that few others can match,” said Olli Rehn, Minister of Economic Affairs.
“This is a very wise decision by the government. I firmly believe that the incentive will work as an overall booster for many sectors, not only that of the local audiovisual industry,” said Johanna Karppinen, CEO of Audiovisual Finland who has spearheaded the national lobbying efforts for the rebate. “Clearly this is a very satisfying moment, to see that the government looks at film & TV when searching for new sources of international monetary flow and growth, thus recognizing its potential.”
The proposed incentive program closely follows the proposal outlined in the spring of 2016 by a task force set by the Minister of Culture. Once approved, it will stand as one of the most competitive program of its kind in the Nordic States.
Audiovisual Finland www.audiovisualfinland.fi