Montana offers a tax credit for certain production and postproduction costs of qualifying film, television, and other media productions.
Production or postproduction companies wishing to claim this credit must apply for pre-certification with the Montana Department of Commerce Film Office. The application and associated fee are due to the department of commerce prior to beginning principal photography in the state. A unique credit reference number (UCRN) will be issued to the applicant upon approval.
Applicants also must register with the office of the Montana Secretary of State at least 7 to 10 days prior to applying for pre-certification.
The Montana Department of Commerce Film Office has more information as well as instructions on registering with the Montana Secretary of State and applying for pre-certification.
To estimate the potential credit based on expected expenditures and labor costs, visit the Montana Film Office Credit Estimate Calculator, provided as a resource for your estimating purposes only.
After receiving certification from the department of commerce, productions must submit a complete application to the Montana Department of Revenue in order to claim the credit. A complete application must include the application fee, a detailed listing of qualified production or postproduction expenditures (referred to as the “submission of costs”) as well as a production expenditure verification report and all applicable forms (see “Forms” below).
The submission of costs may include:
Compensation costs should be separated from other expense categories, and all expenditures must be submitted in an orderly manner. For the production credit to be approved for the year of production, costs must be submitted within 60 days of concluding principal photography. Postproduction expenses must be submitted by the tax filing due date for the credit to be approved. A late submission of costs will result in any credit awarded being delayed one tax year.
The production expenditure verification report must be issued by a certified public accountant and is due by April 15 of the year following the year of production to be eligible for the MEDIA credit. See 15-31-1006, MCA and ARM 42.4.3413 for report requirements. Visit the Montana Society of CPAs for help finding a qualified accountant.
Complete applications and supporting documentation must be submitted to the department of revenue via Montana’s File Transfer System.
The MEDIA Credit is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. Priority is determined on when the applicant submits a complete application to the department of revenue. Upon receipt, the department will review the application for completeness, accuracy and compliance with all applicable tax laws and notify the applicant of any credit awarded or if further documentation or clarification is required.
The total amount of tax credits claimed by all productions cannot exceed $10 million in any calendar year:
| Amount Type | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024* | 2025* | 2026* | 2027* | 2028* | 2029* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Credit Reserved | $0 | $0 | $0 | $10,021,913 | $12,000,000 | $12,000,000 | $12,000,000 | $10,448,984 | ||
| Total Credit Validated | $10,000,000 | $10,000,000 | $12,000,000 | $1,978,087 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | ||
| Total Credit Available | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1,551,016 | $12,000,000 | $12,000,000 |
* House Bill 340 increases the media credit available starting in 2022 from $10 million to $12 million, with the increase being contingent to termination by the Budget Director. If the $10 million cap has been reached in any given year, then the Department of Revenue will postpone issuing certificates with the additional $2 million in credit until a decision has been made by the Budget Director, which must occur by December 10 of each year. | ||||||||||
If the full allotment of media credit is not claimed in a given tax year, the remaining credit is not carried forward to the next tax year. For example, if only $5 million of the credit is claimed in Year One, the remaining $5 million does not get carried forward and added to the Year Two allotment.
However, excess validated credit is pushed to the following year. For example, if a production is awarded $3 million of credit in Year One, but only $2 million of the cap remains available for the production to claim in Year One, the excess $1 million of credit can be claimed in Year Two.
The media production credit consists of a 20 percent income tax credit on pre-production and production expenditures incurred in the state. Additional incentives can increase the credit up to an aggregate total of 35 percent of the production's base investment in the tax year. These additional incentives are:
The postproduction credit is equal to 25 percent of qualified wages incurred in the state for postproduction activities, which include:
This list of required forms is presented in order of when each form should be submitted to the department of revenue.
Submit with the submission of costs:
Submit within 30 days of the sale of any portion of an awarded MEDIA credit:
Submit when claiming the MEDIA credit on a Montana tax return: