Film and TV incentive in Iceland
Iceland runs the Reimbursement of film production costs: a cash rebate worth 25% (35% for large productions). 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
- Reimbursement of film production costs
- Type
- Cash rebate
- Headline rate
- 25% (35% for large productions)
- Minimum local spend
- None
- Cap per project
- No cap
- Funding
- Entitlement Open-ended, no annual budget
- Paid
- After completion and audit, in ISK
- Foreign spend qualifies
- Partly
- Currency
- ISK
Higher rates and tiers
- 35% when Icelandic spend is at least ISK 350m with at least 30 working days and 50 crew in Iceland
What this means for the cashflow
If the production qualifies, the money follows. No queue, no annual pot. 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 and audit, in ISK.
The detail
35% when the production spends at least ISK 350m in Iceland over 30+ working days with 50+ crew, and for content made for audiences under 18. If more than 80% of the total cost is incurred in Iceland, costs elsewhere in the EEA also qualify. Extended to end 2028.
What you have to submit
Guidelines for the letter of intent (PDF), Icelandic Film Centre. No template: the application takes an itemised budget and financing plan in your own format. These guidelines list the attachments; a second guide covers the payment application.
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, Iceland sits at number 10 of the 32 European schemes we track (35%). 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%
- Austria Up to 30% (35% with Green Bonus)
Shooting there
We list 23 places to shoot in Iceland and 7 studios, production companies and post houses, each checked on its own site.
Source
Figures taken from Film in Iceland 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