Texas film tax incentive

What Texas actually pays

A cash payment back on qualified spend, usually after an audit. Like a grant in practice, though often funded from a capped pool.

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

What qualifies

Tiered cash grant on eligible TX spend. Film/TV/game/VFX-film: 5% ($250K-$1M; game $100K-$1M), 10% ($1M-$1.5M), 25% ($1.5M+). Commercial/reality/VFX-commercial: 5%, then 10% at $1M+. Min 60% of total production completed in TX. 35% of paid cast (incl extras) and 35% of paid crew must be TX residents (combined 35% for reality/commercial/game); rises 5% every 2 yrs to 40/45/50% by 2031. Must be fully funded; cannot start before application. DTR form per TX cast/crew.

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

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.

• Workforce Development Uplift

  Workforce Development uplift. Sec. 485.025(a) makes every uplift a percentage of TOTAL IN-STATE SPENDING, not of a wage subset or a named category. Texas clips ALL grants to 31% of total in-state spending (Sec. 485.025(i)), and the seven uplifts sum to 16 points, so a 25%-tier project can only ever absorb 6 of them.

  Minimum spend: $250K

  +2.5%

• Historic Site Uplift

  Historic Site uplift. Sec. 485.025(a) makes every uplift a percentage of TOTAL IN-STATE SPENDING, not of a wage subset or a named category. Texas clips ALL grants to 31% of total in-state spending (Sec. 485.025(i)), and the seven uplifts sum to 16 points, so a 25%-tier project can only ever absorb 6 of them.

  Minimum spend: $250K

  +2.5%

• Post-Production Uplift

  Post-Production uplift. Sec. 485.025(a) makes every uplift a percentage of TOTAL IN-STATE SPENDING, not of a wage subset or a named category. Texas clips ALL grants to 31% of total in-state spending (Sec. 485.025(i)), and the seven uplifts sum to 16 points, so a 25%-tier project can only ever absorb 6 of them.

  Minimum spend: $250K

  +1%

• Veterans Uplift

  Veterans uplift. Sec. 485.025(a) makes every uplift a percentage of TOTAL IN-STATE SPENDING, not of a wage subset or a named category. Texas clips ALL grants to 31% of total in-state spending (Sec. 485.025(i)), and the seven uplifts sum to 16 points, so a 25%-tier project can only ever absorb 6 of them.

  +2.5%

• Rural Filming Uplift

  Rural Filming uplift. Sec. 485.025(a) makes every uplift a percentage of TOTAL IN-STATE SPENDING, not of a wage subset or a named category. Texas clips ALL grants to 31% of total in-state spending (Sec. 485.025(i)), and the seven uplifts sum to 16 points, so a 25%-tier project can only ever absorb 6 of them.

  +2.5%

Other state programs

Separate incentives Texas 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.

• Austin Film Society – AFS Grant for Feature Films

• Media Production Development Zone (MPDZ) — Sales & Use Tax Exemption

• Sales & Use Tax Exemption (Media Productions)

  Minimum spend: N/A

• Hotel Occupancy Tax Exemption / Refund

  Minimum spend: N/A

  6%

• Fuel Tax Refund (Off-Road Use)

  Minimum spend: N/A

• AFS Grant for Short Films

• AFS New Texas Voices Award

• Harrison McClure Endowed Film Fund

• AFS Travel Grant

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.

Best case here: Texas 25% + San Antonio up to 14% ≈ 39% combined — each on its own definition of qualified spend.

• Austin (City Incentive) — Creative Content Incentive Program (CCIP)

  2.5% of wages paid to Austin-MSA residents (single rate since the Oct 2025 CCIP overhaul; previously 0.75%); stacks on TMIIIP

  2.5%

• Houston (City Incentive) — HFFIP

  Minimum spend: $500K in City of Houston region

  10%

• San Antonio (City Incentive)

  +2% if San Antonio residents are at least 35% of paid cast & crew (rising to 50% by 2031); +2% if SA-resident veterans are at least 5% of paid cast & crew

  Minimum spend: $100K in the 8-county Greater San Antonio Metro Area

  10%–14%

• Fort Worth: Negotiated Package on Request (no published terms)

• Pittsburg (City Incentive)

  Minimum spend: $20K

• North Texas Pioneer Film Award

How to apply

Submit the TMIIIP incentives inquiry form on the Texas Film Commission site. File before production starts: no earlier than 180 calendar days and no later than 5pm CT five business days prior. Project must be fully funded. After production, submit final TX-expenditure docs; TFC conducts a final audit before issuing the grant check.

Common questions

What is the Texas film tax incentive rate?

Texas offers 5% to 25% on qualified in-state spend through the TMIIIP (Base Grant). It is a rebate. A cash payment back on qualified spend, usually after an audit. Like a grant in practice, though often funded from a capped pool.

What is the minimum spend for the Texas film incentive?

$250K film/TV/reality; $250K VFX for film or TV (Sec. 485.024(a)(1)); $100K commercial, video game and other digital media (Sec. 485.024(a)(4)). 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 Texas?

Texas offers 5 uplifts on its headline program: Workforce Development Uplift, Historic Site Uplift, Post-Production Uplift, Veterans Uplift, Rural Filming Uplift. Uplifts are usually decided by scheduling and location choices made months before submittal.

Are there city or county film incentives in Texas?

Yes — Austin (City Incentive) — Creative Content Incentive Program (CCIP), Houston (City Incentive) — HFFIP, San Antonio (City Incentive), Fort Worth: Negotiated Package on Request (no published terms), Pittsburg (City Incentive), North Texas Pioneer Film Award. 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 Texas 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.