Film and TV incentive in Estonia
Estonia runs the Film Estonia production incentive: a cash rebate worth Up to 40%. 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
- Film Estonia production incentive
- Type
- Cash rebate
- Headline rate
- Up to 40%
- Minimum local spend
- Project budget of at least €1m for a feature, €200,000 for a feature documentary, €150,000 for animation, €500,000 for an animation series and €100,000 per episode for TV drama
- Cap per project
- No published cap per project
- Funding
- Budget-limited Open call, first come first served, €9.2m for 2026
- Paid
- Costs audited within 30 days of filing, payment within 10 days of approval
- 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: Costs audited within 30 days of filing, payment within 10 days of approval.
The detail
The base rate is 30% of eligible Estonian spend and it rises to 40% when at least two creative crew members are Estonian tax residents, so budget on 30% unless you are sure of the local hires. New conditions have applied since 20 April 2026. Only costs paid to parties subject to Estonian taxation count. The applicant is an Estonian-registered company or an Estonian branch or subsidiary, the money is paid to the foreign company, 70% of the financing must be in place including this support, and a decision takes up to 40 days.
What you have to submit
Film Estonia application form (Word), Estonian Film Institute. Estonian-language form whose budget section asks for the overall budget, the Estonian production stage budget, the eligible cost budget, the labour share and the rate claimed (30 or 40%). It is digitally signed and sent to the Institute, and separate interim and final report forms set actual costs against this budget before the audited cost report is approved.
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, Estonia sits at number 6 of the 32 European schemes we track (40%). 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 55 places to shoot in Estonia and 8 studios, production companies and post houses, each checked on its own site.
Source
Figures taken from Film Estonia (Estonian Film Institute) 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