Puerto Rico

Submit a complete application PRIOR to the end of principal photography; pay a mandatory filing fee equal to 1% of the qualified local spend, up to a maximum of $250,000 (50% of the filing fee must be paid upon approval of your application and the remaining 50% once the Film Commissioner has confirmed that the applicable tax credits have become available); within 30 calendar days after the approval date of the Decree, shall unconditionally accept the Decree by means of a sworn statement; demonstrate that the film project is ready for preproduction with a complete balanced financing plan; begin principal photography within 120 days of the issuance of the Decree; comply with required set visits for Department of Economic Development and Commerce (DEDC) officials; provide screen credit in the ends credits of the project; episodic series, mini-series, and pilots must provide an “air date”; provide all accounting files to the auditor within 60 days from the completion of principal photography or the completion of postproduction if performed in PR; submit an audit report prepared by an independent certified public accountant within 90 days of receiving the accounting files from production. Loan out companies must register to do business with the Secretary of State.

Qualified spend includes payments for salaries and wages made to residents and qualified nonresidents along with payments made for goods and services provided by a Puerto Rico (PR) vendor when incurred directly in the production of a film project including development (if more than 50% of principal photography is shot in PR), preproduction, production, and postproduction. Nonresident wages for both above-the-line and below-the-line workers are subject to 20% PR tax withholding. Qualifying expenditures made up to 60 days prior to filing the application may be eligible for the incentive. PR resident producer fees are capped at 10% of the project’s PR budget.

This program is not administered on a first-come, first-served basis. DEDC will evaluate each application and issue a Decree to the film project, if it is in the best social and economic interest of PR. PR offers a transferable tax credit equal to 40% of the qualified local spend and resident labor and 20% of all nonresident costs. Payments representing wages, fringe benefits, per diem, or fees made to any nonresident (individual or loan out, cast or crew) for services rendered in PR are subject to 20% PR withholding. Postproduction only projects may earn a credit of up to $500,000 per project.