Film and TV incentive in Poland
Poland runs the Polish cash rebate (PISF): 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
- Polish cash rebate (PISF)
- Type
- Cash rebate
- Headline rate
- 30%
- Minimum local spend
- Eligible Polish spend of at least PLN 4m for a co-produced feature (PLN 1m for a service production), PLN 1m per drama series episode and PLN 300k for a documentary; 75% of the financing secured; cultural test
- Cap per project
- No cap
- Funding
- Budget-limited First come, first served until the annual pot is used
- Paid
- After the final report is verified, in PLN
- Foreign spend qualifies
- No
- Currency
- PLN
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 final report is verified, in PLN.
The detail
Rolling applications until the annual budget is exhausted, with at least 10% reserved for animation. Requires a Polish producer, co-producer or service company; applications are in Polish. Eligible costs are limited to 80% of the budget and public aid to 50%.
What you have to submit
Incentive information and application system, Polish Film Institute. Applications go through the PISF online system in Polish, with the cost estimate as an attachment; PISF publishes a macro-enabled Excel cost estimate for its funding programmes.
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, Poland sits at number 17 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
- Spain (mainland) 30% / 25%
- Portugal 30% / 25% (large track); 30% to 40% (medium track)
- Hungary 30% (up to 37.5% with foreign costs)
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)
- Iceland 25% (35% for large productions)
- Austria Up to 30% (35% with Green Bonus)
Shooting there
We list 124 places to shoot in Poland and 23 studios, production companies and post houses, each checked on its own site.
Source
Figures taken from Polish 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