Empire State Film Production Tax Credit
New York offers a 30% refundable credit on qualified production spend — paid out in cash above any tax owed — now including above-the-line wages. Shoot a majority of your days in qualifying upstate counties to add 10% on labor. You must use a New York Qualified Production Facility. $800M is allocated annually, and credits filed on/after Jan 1, 2025 pay out in a single year.
How the program works
- • 30% of qualified New York production costs
- • +10% — Upstate labor uplift: Productions with a $500K+ budget that shoot a majority of principal-photography days in a qualifying upstate county earn an extra 10% on qualified labor.
- Max effective rate: 40%
- • Minimum qualified spend: $0
- • Requires a NYS Qualified Production Facility (soundstage); shoot-day rules vary by budget (indie/<$15M productions need only one facility day).
- • Above-the-line salaries collectively can't exceed 40% of all other qualified costs. Talk/game/reality/news/sports and commercials are not eligible (separate programs exist).
- • CPA / state audit required
- • Screen-credit / logo requirement
How it becomes cash
This is a refundable credit. The state pays out the amount above your tax liability as a cash refund, so you don't need in-state tax to benefit.
$800M per year — $700M for production + post-production and a $100M carve-out for the new Independent Film credit (two pools by budget size). Credits are allocated against the annual pool; indie application windows are date-limited — confirm current dates with ESD.
Are you a film commissioner or agency with official updates to this program? If you have corrections to this documentation, please submit them here.
Submit an update →This is an estimate, not advice.
Every number here is an estimate generated from published program rules and your inputs. Programs change with each legislative session, and qualification depends on details a calculator can't see. This is not tax, legal, or financial advice. Before you make a financing decision, confirm everything with the state film office and a qualified CPA and entertainment attorney.