Film and TV incentive in Croatia
Croatia runs the Filming in Croatia Production Incentive Programme: a cash rebate worth 25% (up to 30% in less-developed regions). A payment on approved local spend, usually claimed after delivery or in stages. What matters is the queue: most cash rebates run from an annual budget.
The numbers
- Scheme
- Filming in Croatia Production Incentive Programme
- Type
- Cash rebate
- Headline rate
- 25% (up to 30% in less-developed regions)
- Minimum local spend
- €250k feature film, €150k TV film, €100k per TV series episode, €60k for documentary, animation or a post-production-only application
- Cap per project
- No per-project cap stated; the aid, together with other state aid, may not exceed 50% of the budget
- Funding
- Budget-limited Awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. The current annual state budget for the scheme and its open or closed status are not published on the official sites.
- Paid
- After completion: a Provisional Certificate is issued on qualification, and payment follows a Final Certificate once the audited accounts of the Croatian shoot are approved
- Foreign spend qualifies
- No
- Currency
- EUR
What this means for the cashflow
There is an annual pot and a queue. Applying early in the year matters, and a full pot can push a production to the next round. The production carries the gap until the money arrives, and that is a financing question rather than a budget line.
When it pays: After completion: a Provisional Certificate is issued on qualification, and payment follows a Final Certificate once the audited accounts of the Croatian shoot are approved.
The detail
At least 30% of cast and crew working in Croatia must be Croatian or EEA citizens for a partial shoot, 50% for a full shoot; above €500k of incentive one Croatian trainee per main department, above €1m three Croatian heads of department and 50% Croatian tax residents in the crew. Only spend inside Croatia and wages of Croatian tax residents qualify, capped at 80% of the budget. 70% of the Croatian financing must be secured at application.
What you have to submit
Service production application forms (ZIP, Croatian), HAVC. Mandatory forms including the budget of the Croatian spend, in Croatian. A separate package exists for co-productions.
Building the budget first? Use the free film budget template or the Budget Builder, then map it onto whatever the fund asks for.
How it compares
Counted on the best rate a production can reach after tax, Croatia sits at number 25 of the 32 European schemes we track (25%). Work out the net value on your own spend, side by side with up to two other countries, in the incentive comparison.
Pays more
Pays less
Other cash rebate schemes
- Netherlands Up to 35%
- Germany 30%
- Portugal 30% / 25% (large track); 30% to 40% (medium track)
- Malta 30% to 40%
- Hungary 30% (up to 37.5% with foreign costs)
- Czech Republic 25% (35% animation and VFX)
- Poland 30%
- Iceland 25% (35% for large productions)
Shooting there
We list 73 places to shoot in Croatia and 10 studios, production companies and post houses, each checked on its own site.
Source
Figures taken from HAVC (Filming in Croatia) and checked on 2026-09-05. Incentives change: confirm the current terms with the fund before you commit a budget to them.
All 32 incentives · Compare them on your own spend · Locations by country