Film and TV incentive in Switzerland
Switzerland runs the Filmstandortförderung Schweiz (FiSS): a selective fund worth 20% (40% for minority co-productions and technical costs). A jury or committee decides, so it is not an entitlement. Budget for the possibility that the answer is no, and for the rounds that decide when you can apply.
The numbers
- Scheme
- Filmstandortförderung Schweiz (FiSS)
- Type
- Selective fund
- Headline rate
- 20% (40% for minority co-productions and technical costs)
- Minimum local spend
- CHF 1.2m of eligible Swiss costs for a majority co-production and CHF 300,000 for a minority one; CHF 250,000 and CHF 150,000 for documentaries
- Cap per project
- CHF 600,000 per project
- Funding
- Budget-limited Federal credit of CHF 6m a year at the Federal Office of Culture
- Paid
- 60% of the committed amount at the start of shooting, the balance on the final statement
- Foreign spend qualifies
- No
- Currency
- CHF
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: 60% of the committed amount at the start of shooting, the balance on the final statement.
The detail
Switzerland has no national cash rebate for incoming productions: FiSS is location support for recognised official co-productions, only a Swiss production company can apply, and a pure foreign service shoot gets nothing at federal level. The film must already be 75% financed without FiSS and a fiction feature needs at least five shooting days in Switzerland. The rate is 20% of eligible Swiss costs, 40% for minority co-productions and for technical costs, and 50% for film-technical services on majority co-productions, all inside the CHF 600,000 ceiling. Most location money in practice sits with the regional funds (Zurich Film Foundation, Cinéforom, Bern, Ticino), and the FiSS statement has to be in by 30 September to count in the current year.
What you have to submit
Praktische Hinweise zur Filmstandortförderung FiSS (PDF), Federal Office of Culture. There is no downloadable template: the application form, the budget form with its three columns (Swiss spend, FiSS at 20% and at 40 or 50%), the expenditure list and the final settlement form all sit inside the federal grant portal, which is moving from FPF to esub.admin.ch. Only a Swiss production company can file, in German or French, and the settlement must be checked by an external auditor before it goes to the BAK.
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, Switzerland sits at number 31 of the 32 European schemes we track (20%). 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 selective fund schemes
Shooting there
We list 70 places to shoot in Switzerland and 24 studios, production companies and post houses, each checked on its own site.
Source
Figures taken from Swiss Federal Office of Culture (BAK) 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