Budget 2025 was delivered by Ministers Jack Chambers and Paschal Donohoe to the Irish Dáil on 1 October 2024. The Budget included three announcements pertaining to the Irish film and TV sector as outlined below.
Section 481 uplift for feature film productions (Scéal Uplift)
Section 481 provides for a tax credit of up to 32% on qualifying Irish film and TV productions. A new measure known as Scéal Uplift has been announced to provide for an increased rate of tax credit of up to 40% (being an 8% uplift) for Irish feature film productions with a maximum qualifying expenditure amount of €20m. This additional uplift to 40% is not region specific. We expect this measure to be very welcome in the sector, in particular for smaller regional productions which can no longer benefit from the regional development uplift.
The new measure is subject to EU State Aid approval and commencement of the relief is not expected until early-mid 2025.
Tax credit for unscripted productions
Following its announcement by Minister Michael McGrath in Budget 2024, an unscripted production tax credit has been introduced in Budget 2025. The credit will be available at a rate of up to 20% on certain production expenditure up to a maximum cap of €15m. It is expected additional detail on the nature of eligible expenditure will be provided for in Finance Bill 2024 which will be released in draft next week. Similar to a qualifying film under Section 481, unscripted productions will be required to pass a specific Cultural Test administered by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media in order to claim the relief.
The tax credit will provide a welcome stimulus to the Irish unscripted production sector. The tax credit is subject to EU State Aid approval and commencement of the relief is not expected until mid-late 2025.
VFX specific measures
Minister Chambers announced that he has directed the Department of Finance to monitor trends in the global VFX sector over the coming year with a view to introducing sector specific reliefs as part of Budget 2026. Assuming the structure of the current government does not change materially in the upcoming Irish General Election, the sector can take comfort with this announcement given that previous promises made in relation to the unscripted production tax credit announced as part of the last Budget have now been implemented by Government.
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