Who can apply / Beneficiaries:

1. An entrepreneur who is a producer of an audiovisual work, a co-producer of an audiovisual work or an entity providing an audiovisual production service which:

a)  has its registered office within the territory of Poland;

b) was a producer of an audiovisual work, a co-producer of an audiovisual work or provided an audiovisual production service in relation to at least one audiovisual work which was distributed in cinemas, broadcasted or presented at least at one international film festival accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF), or employs a person managing the entrepreneur or a person responsible for audio-visual production having experience in the field of audio-visual production or co-production of such an audio-visual work;

c) has concluded a contract for the co-production of an audio-visual work within the territory of the Republic of Poland or an agreement for the provision of audio-visual production services within the territory of the Republic of Poland before submitting an application for financial support;

d) meets the requirements set out in the provisions of law on state aid.

2. An entrepreneur who is a producer of an audiovisual work or a co-producer of an audiovisual work which has its registered office in another Member State of the European Union or in a Member State of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) - the party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area should it fulfill the following conditions jointly:

• it has a branch within the territory of Poland;
• the subject of financial support is an audiovisual work produced by this branch;

Polish branch has to fulfil the conditions applying to Polish entrepreneur set out above in 1.b, 1.c, 1.d.

3. Financial support may only be granted to an entity providing an audiovisual production service only if the producer of an audiovisual work or any of the co-producers of an audiovisual work is not based in Poland.

Which productions are eligible for the Polish cash rebate?

Reimbursement is available for feature films, animations, documentaries and series, animated series and documentary series. The receipt of support is conditional on meeting the criteria for the minimum planned runtime of audiovisual works and exceeding the value of Polish eligible costs defined as follows bellow: 

CO-PRODUCTION:

FEATURE FILMS (min. 70’)

min. spend exceeds:

PLN 4 000 000 

(approx. EUR 889 000*/USD 1 000 000*)

FEATURE SERIES (min. 40’ per episode)

min. spend per episode exceeds:

PLN 1 000 000

(approx. EUR 222 000*/USD 250 000*)

DOCUMENTARY FILMS (min. 40’)

min. spend exceeds:

PLN 300 000 

(approx. EUR 66 500 */USD 75 000*)

DOCUMENTARY SERIES (min. 150’ per season)

min. spend per season exceeds:

PLN 1 000 000

(approx. EUR 222 000*/USD 250 000*)

ANIMATED FILMS (min. 60’)

min. spend exceeds:

PLN 1 000 000

(approx. EUR 222 000*/USD 250 000*)

ANIMATED SERIES (min. 50’ per season / min. 10 episodes per season)

min. spend per season exceeds:

PLN 1 000 000

(approx. EUR 222 000*/USD 250 000*)

SERVICE:

FEATURE FILMS (min. 70’)

min. spend exceeds:

PLN 1 000 000

(approx. EUR 222 000*/USD 250 000*)

FEATURE SERIES (min. 40’ per episode)

min. spend per episode exceeds:

PLN 1 000 000

(approx. EUR 222 000*/USD 250 000*)

DOCUMENTARY FILMS (min. 40’)

min. spend exceeds:

PLN 300 000 

(approx. EUR 66 500 */USD 75 000*)

DOCUMENTARY SERIES (min. 150’ per season)

min. spend per season exceeds:

PLN 300 000 

(approx. EUR 66 500 */USD 75 000*)

ANIMATED FILMS (min. 60’)

min. spend exceeds:

PLN 500 000 

(approx. EUR 111 000*/USD 125 000*)

ANIMATED SERIES (min. 50’ per season / min. 10 episodes per season)

min. spend per season exceeds:

PLN 500 000 

(approx. EUR 111 000*/USD 125 000*)

* exchange rates may be subject to change

How to apply

Financial support in the form of a refund of part of the Polish eligible costs is granted on the basis of the submitted application together with the required attachments.

Application for support:

         -  an application for financial support may be submitted no earlier than 12 months before the start of the work to be covered by financial support and no later than before the start of this work;

         -  the applicant is obliged to start works covered by financial support not later    than 12 months from the date of submitting the application;

         -  at least 75% of the costs of works to be covered and at least 75% of the total financing of the production must be confirmed by documents;

         -  the fee for processing the application is 0.05% of the estimated financial         support, no more than PLN 1,000;

         -  applications are submitted in Polish;

         -  all required attachments to the application must be in Polish or translated into Polish, including by a sworn translator: a copy of the co-production agreement or contract for the provision of services for audiovisual production and copies of documents confirming financing;

         -  PISF processes the application within 28 calendar days.

In a separate procedure, you can obtain a certificate confirming that the project meets the criteria of the qualifying test and qualifies for a refund of some of the costs. The certificate serves informational purposes and does not guarantee the allocation of funds. The certificate is issued within a maximum of 28 days from submitting the application and is valid for 4 years. Applications for the certificate can be submitted throughout the year.

Qualification test:

A qualification test applies, which has the following criteria:

         -  use in the audiovisual work of Polish or European cultural heritage;

         -  location of the audiovisual work on the territory of Poland;

         -  realization of an audiovisual work on the territory of Poland;

         -  participation in the audiovisual production of Polish artists, crews and service               providers;

         -  use of Polish film infrastructure.

How to receive a refund:

         -  the maximum support for one project is PLN 15 million;

         -  the maximum support for one applicant during the year is PLN 20 million;

         -  Polish eligible costs which form the basis for calculating financial support may             not exceed 80% of the total audiovisual production costs;

         -  only one financial support may be granted for audiovisual production of a                     given audiovisual work and it cannot be raised at a later time;

         -  the maximum share of public funds together with the amount of support may             not exceed:

1. Domestic co-production: 50%

2. International co-production (UE, EFTA): 60%

3. A difficult work, with limited commercial values and aimed at children under 12 years: 70%

4. A difficult work, promoting Polish historical or cultural heritage in the world, which eligible costs exceed twice the minimum required eligible costs: 70%

Polish eligible costs shall be reimbursed, including:

1. Legitimate and necessary costs:

         - preparations for the production incurred as part of the search for shooting                     locations of audiovisual production;

         - realization of audiovisual production;

         - set design and costumes;

         - obtaining technical equipment for audiovisual production;

         - travel, accommodation and meals;

         - editing and post-production;

         - production of animations and special effects;

          - related to the involvement of people in the production of an audiovisual                       work, including income taxes and social security contributions;

          - copyrights and licenses for music and archival materials used in audiovisual                   production;

           - production of formats enabling access to an audiovisual work for disabled                    people, including audio descriptions and subtitles for the deaf.

2. Costs of goods and services purchased from entrepreneurs with a registered office or branch in Poland and costs of goods and services, including rental or lease of technical infrastructure, purchased or provided in Poland.

3. Fees, salaries and other benefits for creators and crew:

on the basis of contracts other than a contract of employment - if they are subject to tax liability within the meaning of tax regulations and fall within the catalogue specified in Article 54 (5) of Regulation No.651/2014.

on the basis of employment contracts - if they include the labor costs of the employees of the entrepreneur who has received financial support or its co-producers, or their subcontractors who are subject to unlimited tax liability in accordance with the Act of 26 July 1991 on personal income tax (Journal of Laws of 2018 item 1509, as amended3).

Costs that are not refundable

The Polish eligible costs do not include the tax on goods and services and costs related to running business by producers or co-producers, not directly related to audiovisual production or providing services for audiovisual production, which is the subject of financial support.