What is the Arkansas film tax incentive rate?

Arkansas offers 25% to 30% on qualified in-state spend through the Digital Product & Motion Picture Act. It is a transferable credit. A credit you can sell to a company that owes tax in the state. You rarely get face value — expect a broker discount — so model the net, not the headline.

What is the minimum spend for the Arkansas film incentive?

$200K features/TV; $100K commercials; $50K post. Falling under the minimum is a total loss of the benefit, not a partial one — it is worth confirming the threshold before locking a budget.

Is the Arkansas film incentive transferable or refundable?

Transferable — the credit can be sold, typically below face value, so model the net rather than the headline rate.

Transferable creditHuman verified· 2026-08-31Active

Arkansas film tax incentive

Digital Product & Motion Picture Act

Headline rate

25%up to 30%

Minimum spend

$200K features/TV; $100K commercials; $50K post

What Arkansas actually pays

A credit you can sell to a company that owes tax in the state. You rarely get face value — expect a broker discount — so model the net, not the headline.

New to the mechanics? Tax credit vs rebate vs grant, Selling a transferable credit and What counts as qualified spend.

What qualifies

Min $200K AR spend (features/TV); 25% base on qualified spend and resident/non-resident wages (first $500K each), max 30% with uplifts. Wages qualify only if reported to the film office and subject to AR income tax. Choose rebate (cash) or transferable income-tax credit. ACA 15-4-2001 et seq.; Act 517 of 2023.

Animation
Commercial
Documentary
Music Video
Scripted TV
Feature Film
Post-Production
Reality / Unscripted
Video Game / Interactive

How to apply

Register/apply with the Arkansas Economic Development Commission / Arkansas Film Commission before incurring any in-state production or post costs; sign a financial incentive agreement; file weekly expenditure reports beginning within two weeks of principal photography; submit a CPA audit to claim the rebate or transferable credit.

The rule to remember

File weekly expenditure reports within 2 weeks of principal photography start

Common questions

What is the Arkansas film tax incentive rate?: Arkansas offers 25% to 30% on qualified in-state spend through the Digital Product & Motion Picture Act. It is a transferable credit. A credit you can sell to a company that owes tax in the state. You rarely get face value — expect a broker discount — so model the net, not the headline.
What is the minimum spend for the Arkansas film incentive?: $200K features/TV; $100K commercials; $50K post. Falling under the minimum is a total loss of the benefit, not a partial one — it is worth confirming the threshold before locking a budget.
Is the Arkansas film incentive transferable or refundable?: Transferable — the credit can be sold, typically below face value, so model the net rather than the headline rate.

Verify before you budget. These figures come from our own incentives database and each shows when it was last reviewed — but programs change between funding cycles and legislative sessions. Confirm with the film office, or ask us, before a number goes into a budget.

QUICK CALCULATOR

What could Arkansas be worth?

A first-pass estimate with the arithmetic shown, so you can check it rather than trust it. Switch states right here to test the same budget elsewhere, or line up to five states up side by side on the compare page.

Compare with

Programs in a similar rate band. The mechanism matters as much as the percentage — a transferable credit at 30% is not the same money as a cash grant at 30%.

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Tracking changes to this program?

We re-verify Arkansas against the film office and the statute, and write when something moves that would change a budget. One email, no cadence you didn't ask for.