Film and TV incentive in Latvia
Latvia runs the Co-financing programme for foreign film productions: a cash rebate worth 30%. 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
- Co-financing programme for foreign film productions
- Type
- Cash rebate
- Headline rate
- 30%
- Minimum local spend
- Total production budget of at least €711,436 for features and animation, €142,287 for documentaries
- Cap per project
- No published cap per project; support plus other Latvian public funding may not exceed 50% of the spend in Latvia
- Funding
- Budget-limited Selection rounds open for at least a month, run by the Investment and Development Agency; about €5.07m in 2026 out of €15.2m planned for 2025 to 2027
- Paid
- After the work in Latvia is finished and the eligible costs are approved; the decision on the application takes about a month
- 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 the work in Latvia is finished and the eligible costs are approved; the decision on the application takes about a month.
The detail
The applicant is a Latvian company working under an agreement with the foreign producer, and shooting must not start before the application goes in. The foreign producer needs at least 50% of total filming costs in place and foreign funding at least equal to the Latvian eligible costs, and VAT paid into the state budget must be at least half of the co-financing. Rounds close once the money is committed, so the calendar matters more than the paperwork. On top of this the Riga Film Fund adds a regional 20 to 25% rebate from an €800,000 annual budget for work shot in or set in Riga.
What you have to submit
Annex 5, eligible cost estimate (Excel), Investment and Development Agency of Latvia. The cost estimate required with the application, in euro and excluding VAT, on fixed cost positions with the support of up to 30% calculated per line. The Latvian company uploads it in the liaa.business.gov.lv portal in Latvian, together with the signed overall production budget and the financing plan.
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, Latvia sits at number 22 of the 32 European schemes we track (30%). 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
- Czech Republic 25% (35% animation and VFX)
- Norway Up to 25%
- Croatia 25% (up to 30% in less-developed regions)
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 Latvia and 9 studios, production companies and post houses, each checked on its own site.
Source
Figures taken from National Film Centre of Latvia 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