Ireland is losing international TV and movie productions due to delays and issues with the tax incentive scheme, according to sources close to the industry.
An upgraded Section 481 was launched in 2015, and one major benefit was that tax relief was available upfront once the production company took certain actions.
However, sources said that this upfront payment – which was designed to give Ireland an advantage in the highly-competitive international production market – could no longer be honestly promoted as a perk.
It is understood that one of the key sticking points has been qualifying expenses. In the past, production companies would have submitted finance expenses, for example.
However, a spokesman for Revenue said it has identified “numerous inaccuracies and mistakes in the claims that are being made under Section 481, leading to delays to the indepth examination of applications”.
It added: “The level of Revenue examination of applications must match the risk to the Exchequer given the rising cost of the credit, with the tax credit value of applications received in 2017 alone totalling €100m.” The Department is currently undertaking a cost benefit analysis of the film relief.
