German Government Pledges 30 Percent Tax Rebate in 2025 Budget

The German government has pledged to add a plan for a new tax incentive program to its 2025 budget aimed at attracting more international productions to shoot in the country.

The deal, announced Friday, would provide a rebate of up to 30 percent on German production costs for films and high-end series, with funding coming from the federal government and the states. Pending approval from the cabinet, parliament and state governments, the new scheme could go into effect as early as Jan. 1, 2025.

Industry groups have been lobbying Berlin for months to improve the country’s incentive system, complaining that Germany is no longer competitive with neighboring European countries with more generous programs. Germany’s film studios, in particular, see the incentive as key to attracting international productions that are increasingly choosing to shoot instead in Spain or Eastern Europe.

Even Edward Berger’s Oscar-winning big-budget war German drama All Quiet on the Western Front, made for Netflix, shot outside the country, because of better incentives elsewhere.

Industry representatives are set to meet with the German culture ministry next week to discuss details of the program, including funding criteria, entry thresholds and eligible costs.

The news comes on the heels of a new program in Australia, where lawmakers nearly doubled the country’s 16.5 percent location tax credit to 30 percent to pull in more Hollywood features.