Tax Credits – Film and Television Tax Credit
On March 12, 2009, the government passed legislation to:
- expand eligibility to allow all Canadian–controlled corporations to qualify for the Film and Television Tax Credit Program for productions with principal photography that start after December 31, 2008, and
- remove the requirements that principal photography of a production must start before April 1, 2013 to claim any of the film and television tax credits and before January 1, 2010 to claim the 5% additional basic tax credit.
The Film and Television Tax Credit Program provides refundable tax credits to eligible corporations that produce eligible film or video productions in British Columbia. The credits are for domestic productions with qualifying levels of Canadian content.
The program consists of five distinct credits:
- the basic film and television tax credit
- the regional tax credit
- the distant location regional tax credit
- the film training tax credit
- the digital animation or visual effects tax credit
For more information on the FTTC, please see bulletins CIT 009, British Columbia Film and Television Tax Credit, CIT 011, British Columbia Digital Animation or Visual Effects Tax Credit and our frequently asked questions.
The credit is fully refundable, but must first be applied against total income tax payable. There are no carry-back or carry-forward provisions.
For information about the federal tax credit, please see the Canada Revenue Agency website.
Production corporations that do not meet the FTTC eligibility requirements may qualify for the Production Services Tax Credit (PSTC) program. To find out more about the PSTC click here.
Claiming the Credits
To claim the credit, complete form T1196, British Columbia Film and Television Tax Credit, attach the eligibility certificate issued by British Columbia Film and file them along with your T2 Corporation Income Tax Return.
If the production is completed during the tax year, a completion certificate from British Columbia Film should also be attached when submitting the T2 Corporation Income Tax Return to the Canada Revenue Agency.
A separate form T1196, British Columbia Film and Television Tax Credit and eligibility certificate are required for each production. Enter the total amount of credits from all productions you are claiming in line 671 on Schedule 5, Tax Calculation Supplementary - Corporations.
You must claim these credits no later than 36 months after the end of the tax year.
Legislation
Please see Part 5 of the British Columbia Income Tax Act and the Film and Television Tax Credit Regulation.
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