Arkansas

Register the production company with the Secretary of State; PRIOR to beginning preproduction activities in Arkansas, register with the film office and submit an application along with an estimate of expenditures; meet the minimum spending requirement of at least $200,000 within a six-month period in connection with the production of one feature project or $50,000 within a six-month period in connection with a postproduction only project; within two weeks after the start of principal photography the production company must begin filing weekly expenditure reports (failure to file weekly expenditure reports may result in a delay in disbursement of the tax incentive); and apply for the production or postproduction incentive no later than 180 days after the last production expenses are incurred in Arkansas.

Qualified spend includes: costs incurred in Arkansas in the development, preproduction, production, or postproduction phase of a qualified production, on or after the date articulated in the incentive agreement; the first $500,000 of wages or salaries paid to each resident and nonresident that are subject to Arkansas income taxes; pension, health, and welfare contributions; and stipends and living allowances. Payments for production and postproduction expenses are recommended (but not required) to be made from the checking account of an Arkansas institution. Cash payments to vendors may not exceed 40% of the total verifiable costs.

This program is administered on a first-come, first-served basis. Arkansas offers two incentive programs. One in the form of a transferable tax credit and the other a rebate. Both programs provide the following: a base incentive equal to 25% of qualified goods, services, and labor; 10% uplift on resident below-the-line or veteran labor costs or qualified production costs paid to veteran-owned businesses; 5% uplift on payroll costs for below-the-line employees and expenditures paid to a person or business whose full-time permanent address is located in a Tier 3 or Tier 4 county in the annual ranking of counties established by the Arkansas Economic Development Commission under § 15-4-2704; and a 5% uplift on all qualified production costs incurred when producing a multi-project production, as defined. For purposes of the 10% resident below-the-line labor uplift, resident actors and writers are considered below-the-line workers. The maximum incentive that may be earned on any expenditure is 30%. Arkansas also offers a postproduction only incentive which is equal to the production incentive but with a minimum spend requirement of only $50,000. The incentive program is scheduled to sunset on June 30, 2032.