Film and TV incentive in Portugal
Portugal runs the SCRI.PT cash rebate (RIPAC): a cash rebate worth 30% / 25% (large track); 30% to 40% (medium track). 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
- SCRI.PT cash rebate (RIPAC)
- Type
- Cash rebate
- Headline rate
- 30% / 25% (large track); 30% to 40% (medium track)
- Minimum local spend
- €2.5m eligible spend (large track); €500k (medium track, €200k for documentaries and non-filming activities)
- Cap per project
- No cap
- Funding
- Budget-limited First come, first served; €35m a year for the large track and €15m for the medium track, 2026 to 2029
- Paid
- Large track: after completion, by the end of April of the following year; medium track: four instalments from contract signature
- Foreign spend qualifies
- No
- Currency
- EUR
Higher rates and tiers
- 30% on the first EUR 2,000,000 of qualifying spend
- 25% above that
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: Large track: after completion, by the end of April of the following year; medium track: four instalments from contract signature.
The detail
New scheme since June 2026, replacing the old cash rebate. Large track: 30% on the first €2m, 25% above (30% throughout in the interior, Madeira and the Azores). Medium track: 30%, or 40% in those regions. Cultural test and a local executive producer required.
What you have to submit
Eligible expenditure budget (Excel), Portugal Film Commission. Mandatory attachment to the SCRI.PT application, alongside the cultural self-assessment grid.
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, Portugal sits at number 15 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 cash rebate schemes
- Netherlands Up to 35%
- Germany 30%
- 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)
- Austria Up to 30% (35% with Green Bonus)
Shooting there
We list 74 places to shoot in Portugal and 28 studios, production companies and post houses, each checked on its own site.
Source
Figures taken from Portugal Film Commission 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