What is the South Carolina film tax incentive rate?

South Carolina offers 20% to 25% on qualified in-state spend through the Motion Picture Incentive Act. It is a cash grant. The state pays cash against qualified spend. No tax liability needed, no broker, no discount — the cleanest structure for an independent production.

What is the minimum spend for the South Carolina film incentive?

$1,000,000 SC production costs in a taxable year (12-62-50); SCFC P&P: TV series $10M total and $1M per episode. 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 South Carolina film incentive transferable or refundable?

Neither transferable nor refundable, which limits its value to productions with in-state tax liability.

Cash grantHuman verified· 2026-09-07Active

South Carolina film tax incentive

Motion Picture Incentive Act

Headline rate

20%up to 25%

Minimum spend

$1,000,000 SC production costs in a taxable year (12-62-50); SCFC P&P: TV series $10M total and $1M per episode

What South Carolina actually pays

The state pays cash against qualified spend. No tax liability needed, no broker, no discount — the cleanest structure for an independent production.

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

What qualifies

$1M in-state spend for wage + supplier rebates; $250K for sales-tax exemption / state-property fee waiver. Eligible: features, TV pilots, TV series and their loan-out companies.

Feature Film
Scripted TV
Pilot
Commercial

Other state programs

Separate incentives South Carolinaruns 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.

Supplier Rebate (SC-supplier goods & services)
Non-payroll expenditures made in South Carolina on goods/services purchased, rented or leased from a qualifying SC Supplier (S.C. Code 12-62-60); payroll and loan-out/payroll-company payments are excluded by statute and rebated under SC00 instead. Narrow-base: never touches wages. SCFC P&P also pays 25% on out-of-state/non-qualified vendors (agency policy, not statute). Requires >= $1M SC spend and SCPRT approval before principal photography.
Minimum spend: $1,000,000 in-state expenditure (12-62-60(A)(1))
30%

How to apply

Contact the SC Film Commission before production to receive an incentive application; production company must be approved before spending counts.

The rule to remember

Cash rebate, not a credit; discretionary and 'not an entitlement' (no appeal). Funds are reserved per project at approval - the real constraint is the annual pool ($10M/yr general fund for wages under 12-62-50 + admissions-tax share for supplier rebates under 12-62-60; FY26-27 Part IA authorises $24.39M 'Alloc Private Sector'), not the rate. Statute excludes the ENTIRE salary of anyone paid >= $1M per picture (SCFC P&P wording differs - statute governs). Budgets > $9M: fringes not rebated. No unscripted/reality; docs case-by-case. Paid within 30 days of final SCDOR audit.

Common questions

What is the South Carolina film tax incentive rate?: South Carolina offers 20% to 25% on qualified in-state spend through the Motion Picture Incentive Act. It is a cash grant. The state pays cash against qualified spend. No tax liability needed, no broker, no discount — the cleanest structure for an independent production.
What is the minimum spend for the South Carolina film incentive?: $1,000,000 SC production costs in a taxable year (12-62-50); SCFC P&P: TV series $10M total and $1M per episode. 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 South Carolina film incentive transferable or refundable?: Neither transferable nor refundable, which limits its value to productions with in-state tax liability.

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.

At a glance

Program: Motion Picture Incentive Act
Mechanism: Cash grant
Rate: 20%up to 25%
Minimum spend: $1,000,000 SC production costs in a taxable year (12-62-50); SCFC P&P: TV series $10M total and $1M per episode
Annual cap: Wage rebates: $10M/yr general fund (12-62-50(A)(1)); supplier rebates limited to 26% of prior-year admissions tax (12-62-60). FY2026-27 Act Part IA Sec. 49 authorises $24,393,767 for State Film Office rebates; unspent funds carry forward (Proviso 49.8)
Per-project cap: No statutory per-project cap; amount reserved per Qualifying Production Letter at SCPRT discretion
Compensation cap: Any employee whose salary is >= $1,000,000 per motion picture is excluded from 'total aggregate payroll' entirely (12-62-50(A)(1))
Stackable: Conditional
CPA audit required: No
Screen credit required: Yes
Loan-out registration: Yes
Loan-out withholding: Yes
Application lead time: Apply & be approved before principal photography

Sources

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What could South Carolina 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 South Carolina 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.