New York film tax incentive

What New York actually pays

A credit that pays out in cash when it exceeds what you owe the state. Close to a rebate for most independent productions.

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

What qualifies

30% fully refundable credit on qualified production costs (BTL + qualifying ATL). Feature >=75 min; TV episode >=30 min w/ commercials. $1M min spend if majority of PP days in MCTD (NYC five boroughs, Westchester, Rockland, Nassau, Suffolk); $250K elsewhere. For NY spend outside the qualified facility to count, >=75% of budget in NY OR >=$3M spent at the qualified facility.

• Pilot
• Animation
• Miniseries
• Scripted TV
• Feature Film
• Streaming / SVOD

Uplifts

Rate bumps that stack on the base program, up to its published ceiling. Uplifts are the most commonly missed money in any program, because qualifying for one is usually a location or scheduling decision made long before anyone is thinking about submittal.

• Production Plus: NY Film Production Credit Uplift

  2+ initial applications; >=$20M aggregate qualified NY costs (5% — independent companies) or >=$100M (10%); initial apps for features/new series before 12/31/2028

  +5%–10%

• Upstate Filming Bump (Empire State Film Tax Credit)

  Qualified labor in designated upstate counties; qualified spend >=$500K (full uplift if >50% PP days upstate)

  Minimum spend: $500K+ production budget (required for the uplift)

  +10%

• Music Scoring Uplift (Empire State Film Tax Credit)

  Hire & pay >=5 musicians for scoring work performed in NYS

  +10%

• Post-Production Upstate (Outside MCTD) Uplift

  Additional credit on qualified post-production costs incurred at facilities outside the MCTD only (Post-Production Credit, Tax Law s.31; raises 30% to 35%).

  Minimum spend: $1M

  +5%

Other state programs

Separate incentives New York runs alongside the headline program. Each has its own base, rules and application — the rates here are the programs' own, not additions to the rate above.

• Post-Production Tax Credit (Empire State)

  Minimum spend: $1M

  30%–35%

• NYC Musical and Theatrical Production Tax Credit

  Minimum spend: Level 2 (Off-Broadway): $750K min budget & $750K qualified spend; Level 1 (Broadway): no stated minimum

  25%

• Commercial Production Tax Credit (NYS)

  Minimum spend: Downstate: $500K+ in MCTD/yr; Upstate: >$100K outside MCTD

  20%–30%

• Empire State Digital Gaming Media Production Credit

  Minimum spend: $50K total production costs (>=51% incurred in NYS)

  25%–35%

• Jacob Burns Film Center Artist Residency

• NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship (Video/Film)

• Independent Film Production Tax Credit (NYS)

  Minimum spend: $1M

  30%–40%

• Sales Tax Exemption for Property and Services Used Directly and Predominantly in Film Production

  Minimum spend: N/A

  4%

• Permanent-Resident Hotel Occupancy Exemption — NY State (90 days) vs. New York City (180 days)

  Minimum spend: N/A

City, county & regional programs

Local incentives that can stack on top of the state program — but each defines its own qualified spend, caps and residency rules, so their rates can't simply be added to the state percentage. Worth a call before you count on one.

• Rooftop Films Filmmakers Fund (Feature Film Grants)

Grants & funds

Grant funds and fellowships available to productions here, including national programs. Awarded competitively rather than earned on spend.

• NYWIFT Loreen Arbus Disability Awareness Grant

• NYWIFT Ravenal Foundation Feature Film Grant

How to apply

Submit Project Summary online + initial application before principal photography via ESD Film Tax Credit Program. Non-indie productions must shoot >=10% of PP days at a qualified production facility. Anti-harassment form and diversity plan required. Final application audited; optional pre-qualified CPA review expedites approval. Apps filed after 1/1/2025 may claim credit in the allocation year.

Common questions

What is the New York film tax incentive rate?

New York offers 30% to 40% on qualified in-state spend through the Empire State Film Production Tax Credit. It is a refundable credit. A credit that pays out in cash when it exceeds what you owe the state. Close to a rebate for most independent productions.

What is the minimum spend for the New York film incentive?

$250,000; $1,000,000 if most principal-photography days are in NYC, Westchester, Rockland, Nassau or Suffolk. 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.

What uplifts are available in New York?

New York offers 4 uplifts on its headline program: Production Plus: NY Film Production Credit Uplift, Upstate Filming Bump (Empire State Film Tax Credit), Music Scoring Uplift (Empire State Film Tax Credit), Post-Production Upstate (Outside MCTD) Uplift. Uplifts are usually decided by scheduling and location choices made months before submittal.

Are there city or county film incentives in New York?

Yes — Rooftop Films Filmmakers Fund (Feature Film Grants). Local programs generally stack on top of the state incentive but define their own qualified spend, caps and rules, so their rates can't simply be added to the state percentage.

Is the New York film incentive transferable or refundable?

Refundable — the excess over your state tax liability is paid out in cash.

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.