Tax credit, new plan to support the audiovisual sector

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New access requirements for businesses and works; increase in the amount given as an advance, which goes from 40 to 50% of the expenses; fight against “re-invoicing” by subjects with registered offices outside the national territory, which perhaps cooperate for this with companies based in Italy. And finally also rewards for those who use Italian directors or main actors in their international works. The possibility of extending the concessions to European non-independent producers (connected to broadcasters) is also under discussion.

The Ministry of Culture is preparing to review the tax credit for the audiovisual sector. In which a specific line is also offered for start-ups and one for video clips, in addition to the “traditional” tax credit for independent producers who operate continuously in the sector. For this reason, the Mic has sent a document with the proposed proposals to representative associations, confirms al Only 24 Hours the undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture with responsibility for cinema and audiovisual, Lucia Borgonzoni, to give rise to «a revision capable of restoring propulsive force to a measure that has so far been of great help. And we want it to be more and more». And the Mic expects a contribution of ideas from the associations, to define in detail some issues that have not yet been fully resolved.

In all, the Cinema law provides about 740 million a year. Now the document placed on the table for consultation arrives on the table of sector operators «for about ten days» points out Undersecretary Borgonzoni, designed to intervene on a mechanism that is producing results, but «in the conviction of having to help businesses without wasting resources, moreover at a time like this in which audiovisual production is experiencing a golden age and the risk of wasting strength and resources becomes concrete if the framework of possibilities and interventions is not clarified in the best possible way».

The first change is the definition of entry requirements that weren’t there before. For companies, explains the undersecretary, “in the five years preceding the submission of the application, it is necessary to have carried out at least 3 works for an average total cost of 1.5 million or, alternatively, one work with a cost of over 5 million”. The producers will also have to demonstrate their own investment or an interest, already in the records, of a film distributor or in any case of an audiovisual media service provider. «The way to make the most of this measure – Undersecretary Borgonzoni underlines – is to dedicate it not to those who take money and run away or do works just to take advantage of the tax credit and without a future in cinemas or a sequel. This raises the bar of quality. Which is a necessary and important thing for the whole sector” of which at the moment “we can see a positive trend. There is demand, producers are working and there is even a mismatch in job profiles. Confirming this push are also all the investments in the expansion of existing studios (as done by Lux Vide) or the announcement of new ones (as revealed by the entrepreneur Tarak Ben Ammar).

«What we also want is to protect the weakest groups», Borgonzoni explains again with reference to the measures for start-ups and video clips. But the intent is also to put an end to possible fraudulent mechanisms. Reinvoicing from abroad is an example of this. There is also the idea of ​​no longer considering expenses incurred abroad in the calculation. Today that limit is 20 percent.