ROMANIAN CASH REBATE – 2024

New call for projects opens July 25th, 2024, 12:00 p.m.

 

Main Features:

  • 30% cash rebate on eligible costs
  • up to € 10 mil. per project
  • minimum local spend:
  1. 100.000 € / project (feature film)
  2. 100.000 € / episode (for series – overall calculated average)
  3. 50.000 € / project (documentary)
  4. 15.000 € / project (animation)
  • a minimum of 18 points on the cultural test (9 points for language – one of the official languages of the EU, 7 points for more than 50% of shoot days in Romania, additional points for key crew members from Romania or SEE, please see PROCEDURE)
  • 1000 RON application fee, to be paid before submitting the application

 

Eligible projects:

  • short and long feature films
  • series / episodes
  • documentary films / series
  • animation films / series

Non eligible projects:

  • soap operas
  • sitcoms
  • commercials
  • videogames

Eligible expenses: 

  • payments made to Romanian companies for goods or services related to the implementation of the project;
  • payments made to local individuals, as long as they are taxable in Romania;
  • payments made to foreign individuals, if taxable in Romania (16% withheld in Romania, deductible in country of origin; no loan-outs)

Non eligible expenses:

  • payments incurred before the registration of the project with OFIC
  • financing expenses
  • payments to non-local companies
  • marketing costs
  • any costs not relevant to the implementation of the project
  • fines, penalties, litigation expenses
  • VAT
  • audit costs

Procedure:

  • project is registered with the OFIC by submitting an application, along with the following documents:
  • Production Services Agreement – at least a short form between Producer & Icon. The agreement needs to include precise provisions regarding the fact that ICON would be the company submitting the rebate application. Original + authorized translation
  • An agreement proving ownership of copyright by Producer. Original + authorized translation
  • Letter proving Producer’s commitment to finance the project. Original + authorized translation
  • Synopsis – in Romanian
  • Crew list – this needs to be submitted to prove percentage of SEE/RO crew included in the project, for the cultural test (2 pts. for at least 20%; 3 pts. for at least 30%, 4 pts. for at least 50%p; 1 pt. for each of: a) director, b) producer / line producer, c) lead actor, d) at least 2 supporting actors, e) one of art director/costume designer/composer/editor, f) one of camera operator/1st AD/production manager/post production supervisor/sound engineer/colorist)
  • Total Budget / project (top sheet) & total RO budget (top sheet)
  • Script translated in Romanian
  • CVs for producer/s, director, screenwriter
  • Production calendar – needs to specify the city/location where the shoot will take place (i.e. Bucharest) – necessary in order to prove percentage of shoot days in Romania for the cultural test (1 pt. – 1 shoot day, 3 pts. – more than 10% of total shoot days, at least 2 days, 4 pts. – more than 20% of total shoot days; 5 pts. – more than 30% of total shoot days; 6 pts. – more than 40% of total shoot days; 7 pts. – more than 50% of total shoot days).
  • expenses will be eligible once the registration application is submitted
  • eligibility certificate is issued by OFIC based on the submitted documents
  • prep must start in Romania within 60 calendar days after OFIC issues the certificate, otherwise the eligibility certificate is rescinded.
  • shoot must start no later than 9 months from the issuing of the certificate
  • local expenses need to be submitted to OFIC monthly during production – each month for the previous month, allowing OFIC to track expenses and estimate the eligible costs
  • within 60 business days of the last shoot day in Romania, a financing request needs to be submitted to OFIC, along with an audit agreement and all production reports
  • OFIC analyzes the submitted documents and a financing agreement is concluded establishing the maximum rebate amount, which cannot be exceeded, irrespective of the amount established by the audit report
  • within 9 months of signing the financing agreement, a payment request based on the audit report needs to be submitted, along with all supporting documentation – all agreements, receipts, invoices pertaining to the eligible costs (all documents must be in Romanian or include an authorized translation).
  • The Film Commission will review the request and documents within 60 days of them being completely submitted
  • payment is made within 120 days from the Film Commission’s approval of the payment request
  • a copy of the project needs to be submitted to OFIC within 5 years from the start of shoot in Romania
  • “Film made with the support of Romanian Government” needs to be mentioned in credits and all promotional materials – this is mandatory and failure to include this in the credits may allow OFIC to request reimbursement of the paid rebate amount (plus interest).

*For series, where not all scripts are available upon submitting the request, each completed script needs to be submitted 10 days before the first shoot day for each episode.