Written by Tom Deehan on Sep 5, 2016. Posted in Incentive News

Finland to establish 25% cash rebate audiovisual incentive in 2017

After early reports in July that a proposal for a 25% cash rebate was being considered by the Finnish Government, we can now confirm that the incentive will be implemented from 2017 onwards. The cash rebate was agreed upon during the annual workshop to determine the state budget and will cover a range expenses on goods, services and local labour.

The incentive will be distributed by Tekes, a funding agency that already oversees a number of outlets for public services and businesses.

Olli Rehn, Minister of Economic Affairs details: “the adoption of the incentive makes Finland a highly competitive candidate for shooting major international productions. Our beautiful and versatile landscape together with good infrastructure and skilled workforce is a combination that few others can match.”

Finland’s lack of incentives has seen the nation’s film industry struggle to compete with other Nordic territories and indeed, the rest of Europe. With the new rebate however, Finland will be a great alternative to Norway which has had a similar incentive since January 2016.

Johanna Karppinen, CEO of Audiovisual Finland adds: “this is a very wise decision by the government. I firmly believe that the incentive will work as an overall booster for many sectors, not only that of the local audiovisual industry.”

Since the implementation of Norway’s incentive, the country has managed to lure four major international productions. Half of these films (Downsizing and The Snowman) brought a total of USD24 million into the local economy. Finnish officials are no doubt expecting similar success to be replicated in their own country next year.

Recent productions to have shot on location within Finland include Susanna White’s adaptation of John le Carré spy novel, Our Kind of Traitor, and Michael Moore’s documentary Where to Invade Next.