What Is a Georgia Film Tax Credit Budget Template?
A Georgia film tax credit budget template is a production budget structured to maximize eligibility for Georgia's Entertainment Industry Investment Act tax credit, one of the most competitive film incentive programs in the United States. Georgia offers a base 20 percent transferable tax credit on qualified Georgia expenditures, plus an additional 10 percent credit for productions that include a qualified Georgia promotional logo, bringing the total potential credit to 30 percent of qualified spend.
Georgia has become one of the top film production markets in the world, with major studio productions, Marvel and DC films, and television series regularly using Georgia's incentives, studio infrastructure (Pinewood Atlanta, Eagle Rock Studios, and others), and production workforce. Structuring your budget to maximize Georgia-qualified expenditures is a key part of production planning for any project shooting in the state.
Georgia Tax Credit Budget Structure
Georgia-qualified expenditures include payments to Georgia residents and Georgia-based businesses for services performed in Georgia, Georgia equipment rentals, Georgia location fees, and other Georgia production spend. The budget must identify qualified Georgia expenditures separately from non-Georgia costs throughout all departments.
Minimum spend threshold for Georgia's tax credit is $500,000 in qualified in-state expenditures over a 12-month period. This is a low threshold compared to most state incentive programs, which means many independent features and television pilots can qualify. Your budget must demonstrate this minimum spend will be met.
Georgia resident wages are a key driver of the credit value. Wages paid to Georgia residents are fully qualified. Wages paid to non-residents for work performed in Georgia are partially qualified (the in-Georgia portion qualifies). Above-the-line talent brought to Georgia from out of state generates partial credit on the Georgia days only.
The 10 percent promotional logo bonus requires including a qualified Georgia promotional logo in the finished project. Budget-conscious productions almost always claim this additional credit by including the logo, which adds 50 percent more credit on top of the base 20 percent (10 percentage points more).
Georgia studio infrastructure costs are fully qualified. Pinewood Atlanta, Eagle Rock, and other Georgia studio facilities generate qualified expenditures when you shoot on their stages, use their production services, or rent their equipment. The Georgia studio ecosystem was built specifically to capture production spending and generate tax credit eligibility.
Georgia Film Tax Credit Budget Ranges
Independent films targeting Georgia tax credits typically budget $500,000 to $5 million in Georgia spend. Major studio productions regularly spend $50 million to $150 million in Georgia, generating $15 million to $45 million in transferable credits. The transferable nature of Georgia credits means productions can sell excess credits at market rate (typically 89 to 93 cents on the dollar) to Georgia taxpayers.
Tracking Georgia-Qualified Spend
Georgia requires detailed cost reports for tax credit certification, with expenditures categorized by Georgia versus non-Georgia origin. Tracking actual Georgia spend in real time throughout production ensures your final credit certification reflects actual spend accurately. Use Saturation to monitor your Georgia-qualified expenditures as they accrue so your credit certification is clean and audit-ready.
Ready to get started? Explore Saturation's film budgeting software to manage actuals alongside this template, or read our guide to creating a film budget for a step-by-step walkthrough. Saturation cardholders also unlock exclusive production perks on software and services used every day on set.
