Higher tax perks for films

The cabinet approved increasing tax incentives for foreign film shoots in Thailand, aiming to promote shooting and production in the country.

Deputy government spokeswoman Traisuree Taisaranakul said the cabinet at its meeting on Tuesday agreed to adjust tax incentives and criteria to promote foreign film shoots in Thailand, as proposed by the Tourism and Sports Ministry.

Thailand currently offers a cash rebate equivalent to 15% for every 50 million baht spent on a film shoot.

An extra 5% cash rebate is offered if foreign film studios hire local staff, promote Thai culture and shoot in second-tier tourism provinces. The cash rebate is capped at 75 million baht.

Under the revised criteria, the cash rebate scheme is upgraded to 20% for every 100 million baht spent on the film shoot, with an additional 10% cash rebate offered to productions that hire Thai staff, promote Thai culture and shoot in second-tier tourism provinces.

The cash rebate cap is raised to 150 million baht.

She said the government sees it as essential to adjust the tax incentives and criteria to promote foreign film production here as other countries now offer much more attractive incentives than Thailand.

The move is in line with the government's national strategy to generate income and boost competitiveness to promote the film industry and stimulate the economy.

In October last year, the cabinet agreed to waive personal income tax for foreign actors for five years, aiming to generate more than 3.5 billion baht in revenue from investment in foreign film productions.

According to Ms Traisuree, foreign film shoots and productions are instrumental to Thailand's economic and social development, with investment by foreign film crews increasing by 900 million to 1.2 billion baht a year, while more than 800 Thai staff a year are employed.