Incentives for foreign filmmakers in 2020

The Government of Serbia has adopted a decree on incentives for foreign production houses making movies or TV series in the country.

The decree, which was adopted on December 26, 2019, proscribes that funds are allocated to investors as grants, through a return of a part of qualified costs realized in the Republic of Serbia.

Incentives are allocated in the amount of 25% of the qualified costs, in line with the report of an independent authorized auditor on the costs of the production of an audio-visual work in the Republic of Serbia.

As said in the decree, under the condition that the audio-visual work for whose production funds in the amount exceeding EUR 5,000,000 are earmarked within the production budget for the realization of the project in the Republic of Serbia, incentives are allocated in the amount of 30% of the qualified costs.

Organs and organizations of the Republic of Serbia, organs and services of local self-governments, public companies, funds and directorates, institutions and legal entities founded by the Republic of Serbia or a local self-government, as well as legal entities which are beneficiaries of public funds in line with the law regulating the budget system, don't have the right to incentives in line with this decree.

In case that state aid for the production of an audio-visual work in any form has already been allocated, the total amount of the allocated funds in the form of state aid and incentives cannot exceed 50% of the total amount of the funds meant for the production of that audio-visual work in the Republic of Serbia.

The incentives for a special-purpose film are allocated in the amount of 20% of the qualified costs, and the total amount of the funds allocated for three consecutive fiscal years cannot exceed the defined maximum amount of low-value state aid.

In order for an investor to exercise the right to incentives, they need to earmark funds for the realization of a project in the Republic of Serbia in the amount exceeding the minimum funds for each format:

1) EUR 300,000 for a feature film or a TV film;

2) EUR 300,000 per episode for a TV series;

3) EUR 150,000 for an animated film, audio and/or visual post-production of an audio-visual work;

4) EUR 300,000 for a special-purpose film;

5) EUR 50,000 for a documentary film or a documentary TV program;

The right to incentives can be realized for the production of:

1) a feature film, TV film, feature documentary and feature animated film of at least 70 minutes;

2) a TV series, with the minimum length of an episode being 40 minutes;

3) a documentary TV program of at least 40 minutes.