Film and TV incentive in Italy
Italy runs the Tax credit for international productions: a tax credit worth 40%. A credit against tax, claimed through a return. It is reliable, but it arrives after the filing rather than during the shoot, and in some countries it is itself taxable.
The numbers
- Scheme
- Tax credit for international productions
- Type
- Tax credit
- Headline rate
- 40%
- Minimum local spend
- €250k Italian spend
- Cap per project
- No cap
- Funding
- Budget-limited Closed annual budget since 2026: the 2026 window ran from 3 June to 31 August 2026 (decree of 19 May 2026), and requests beyond the available resources roll into a later session if funds allow
- Paid
- Offset against Italian tax or sold to a bank at a 5 to 15% discount; 70% of an approved provisional credit can be used at once
- Foreign spend qualifies
- Partly
- 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: Offset against Italian tax or sold to a bank at a 5 to 15% discount; 70% of an approved provisional credit can be used at once.
The detail
Transferable credit granted to the Italian executive producer. Since the 2024 revision: €20m per company per year, AI-related costs excluded, above-the-line costs of non-EEA persons at 30%. In 2026 Italy added caps per work and per company and a closed annual budget with fixed application windows, after revoking €66m of credits in 2025.
What you have to submit
Tax credit notices and application windows, DGCA. No public template. The Italian executive producer files the cost plan on the DGCOL platform; the final request needs the eligible costs certified by an auditor registered there.
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, Italy sits at number 3 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 tax credit schemes
- United Kingdom 34%
- Ireland 32%
- France 30% (40% VFX-heavy)
- Spain (mainland) 30% / 25%
- Canary Islands (Spain) 50% / 45%
Shooting there
We list 127 places to shoot in Italy and 44 studios, production companies and post houses, each checked on its own site.
Source
Figures taken from DGCA, Italian Ministry of Culture 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