US Virgin Islands Production Incentives

Be a resident production company or a non-Virgin Islands entity licensed to do business in the USVI; schedule a Pre-Application meeting with the USVI Economic Development Authority (USVIEDA) and Department of Tourism to discuss project, processes, timelines, list of CPAs, etc.; submit a complete application to the Economic Development Authority no earlier than 120 days before and no later than 30 days after the start of principal photography, along with a nonrefundable application fee of $500; begin production activity no later than 90 days after approval; meet the minimum qualified spend of $250,000; see that a minimum of 20% of the workforce (including crew, extras, actors, and up to three paid interns) are USVI residents; agree that an above-the-line crew member will be available to speak at a local school or university where practicable; and include a screen credit.

QPE include costs for preproduction (including scouting activities) production, and postproduction incurred in the USVI which are directly used in a qualified production activity; the first $500,000 of each resident employee’s (or loan out’s) salary, wage, or other compensation, including related benefits; airfare if purchased through a USVI based travel company; insurance costs and bonding fees if purchased through an insurance agency licensed in the USVI; and other direct costs of producing the project in accordance with generally accepted entertainment industry practices.

This program is not administered on a first-come, first-served basis. Priority for the rebate is given to resident production companies that impact the local economy with new money and/or promotes the destination to appropriate project demographics outside the U.S. Virgin Islands. A qualified production company may access one or more of the incentives offered. The applicable percentage for the transferable tax credit incentive is based on the percentage of USVI residents that make up the total workforce. Earn 10%, 15%, or 17% of the first $500,000 paid to each USVI resident when the workforce is made up of 20% to 25%, 25.1% to 30%, or more than 30% of USVI residents, respectively. Additionally, a production company may earn a 9% rebate on QPE (which includes the first $500,000 of each resident’s wage). USVI offers a bonus equal to 10% of total QPE if an approved production includes a qualified USVI promotion PLUS another 10% of total QPE if the production activities take place in St. Croix. Reduced hotel tax rates are also available based upon length of stay and amount spent in USVI.