Film and TV incentive in Lithuania
Lithuania runs the Lithuanian Film Tax Incentive: a tax shelter worth Up to 30% of the production budget. Private investors fund the production in exchange for a tax advantage. The headline percentage is the investors' benefit, not yours: what reaches the budget is what is left after their return and the intermediary's fee.
The numbers
- Scheme
- Lithuanian Film Tax Incentive
- Type
- Tax shelter
- Headline rate
- Up to 30% of the production budget
- Minimum local spend
- €43,000 of Lithuanian spend, at least three shooting days in Lithuania, and at least 80% of eligible costs incurred in Lithuania
- Cap per project
- No cap per project beyond the 30% of budget ceiling
- Funding
- Investor-based Funded by Lithuanian companies in exchange for a corporate income tax break, not from a state budget; €25.6m was invested in 2025
- Paid
- During production, as soon as a Lithuanian donor is signed up; the investment is not repayable
- Foreign spend qualifies
- No
- Currency
- EUR
What this means for the cashflow
The money comes from private investors, so it depends on the market rather than on a public budget. The production carries the gap until the money arrives, and that is a financing question rather than a budget line.
When it pays: During production, as soon as a Lithuanian donor is signed up; the investment is not repayable.
Our assumption in the comparison: The 30% is a ceiling measured against the total production budget, not against Lithuanian spend, and it only materialises if a Lithuanian company agrees to fund it
The detail
This is private money, not a rebate: a Lithuanian production company applies on your behalf and has to find a local donor, so the benefit is never guaranteed. The project must meet at least two of eight cultural criteria and at least 51% of the crew hired by the Lithuanian company must be Lithuanian or EEA nationals. Cast fees above 4% of production costs do not qualify, and development, marketing and distribution costs are excluded. The measure runs to 31 December 2028.
What you have to submit
Film production cost estimate form (Excel), Lithuanian Film Centre. The compulsory cost estimate filed by the Lithuanian producer with the cultural content application; the cost line names are fixed and may not be changed. The application is in Lithuanian and is emailed to the LFC as one signed PDF or ADOC file, and a matching Excel report of actual costs is used for the investment certificate.
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, Lithuania sits at number 21 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
Other tax shelter schemes
Shooting there
We list 60 places to shoot in Lithuania and 10 studios, production companies and post houses, each checked on its own site.
Source
Figures taken from Lithuanian Film Centre 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