Competitive changes to PDV/location rebates
The Location and Post, Digital and Visual Effects (PDV) rebates have been officially modified to make Australia more competitive to attract international production.
The changes apply from July 1, with the PDV threshold set at $500,000 (down from $5m). As for the Loction rebate, international productions in the $15-50m range will no longer be required to spend 70 percent of their budget in the country.
The announcement was made as part of the 2010 Federal Budget, and is the result of intense industry lobbying over the loss of competitiveness due to a more expensive Australian dollar and an increase in incentives offered by other countries and US states. The combination of both factors has seen a considerable number of international features and post-production work lost to other territories.
“Reducing the PDV threshold to $500 000 will make Australia’s world-class, but smaller, PDV providers more competitive when bidding for work outsourced by Hollywood studios, increasing both local employment opportunities and skills within our industry,” said Minister Peter Garrett in a statement.
