Studios and producers shopping around for incentives often consider obvious territories such as British Columbia, Georgia and the U.K, but there several smaller jurisdictions that offer a combination of good locations and lower costs.

One of those places is Portugal, a picturesque country with stunning Iberian architecture and a long Atlantic coastline that now boasts a new refundable tax credit of up to 25% on qualified spend.

The incentive was originally presented by Portugal during the last Berlin Film Festival and was quickly put into place. Its main goal is to attract international film production offering added value to producers via the tax credit – and to make Portugal competitive with other European countries when it comes to attracting major film projects. It covers all kinds of feature films, including documentaries and animation.

Requirements include a minimum production expenditure in Portugal of 1 million euros, or about $1.1 million. The project cap is set at 4 million euros, or about $4.4 million. The eligibility for the rebate and its rate are determined by a cultural test measuring how the production benefits Portugal.

Recent projects produced in Portugal include “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” (2018), “That Good Night” (2017), “The Promise” (2016), “Mata Hari” (a TV series that started shooting in 2016), “Zoom” (2015) and “Night Train to Lisbon” (2013).

Incenitves 20%-25% Refundable tax credit $4.5m Project cap $1.1m Minimum production expenditure