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Mississippi, the Magnolia State. Perhaps best known for the mighty river which bears its name, Mississippi is a growing Gulf Coast production hub. Home to picturesque southern landscapes, a rich history, and a vibrant culture that helped birth rock and roll and the Delta blues, Mississippi might be the perfect location for your next production.
With the state’s generous film incentive program, Mississippi is also a money-saving destination. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk you through how to claim a Mississippi film tax rebate on your next production.
Before we walk through the ins and outs of the Mississippi film tax credit, we encourage you to explore the resources offered on Wrapbook's Production Incentive Center. It's important to recognize that Mississippi is only one of many states offering film tax incentives. Nearly every state across the U.S. features its own distinct production incentive program.
However, understanding the complexities of these incentives can prove daunting and time consuming. This is where Wrapbook is your all-in-one production solution. Our intuitive, interactive platform simplifies the task of researching and comparing incentives, turning what was once a bewildering process into a smooth and effortless experience.
Mississippi offers a stunning variety of landscapes, from the rolling hills of the north to the beautiful beaches along the Gulf Coast. The state’s charming small towns, historic plantations, and iconic river views have served as the backdrop for numerous films, including The Help, A Time To Kill, and Mississippi Grind, among many others.
But Mississippi's allure extends beyond its picturesque landscapes and warm hospitality; it's a cinematic haven. The state boasts robust film incentives that have positioned it as a premier choice for productions.
The Mississippi film incentive program first began in 2004 after the success of films like O Brother, Where Art Thou? and My Dog Skip showcased the beauty and possibility of MS in film. The initial program, however, was canceled in 2017 after political backlash and concern that it was not generating enough state revenue.
Then, in 2019, Mississippi film incentives were reborn as the current iteration of the Mississippi film tax credit.
Since then, the Mississippi Film Office has continued to update their film tax incentive program to keep it competitive with other Gulf Coast production juggernauts, like bordering Louisiana, which has long been a filmmaking destination in the region.
Today, Mississippi has a generous film incentive program that operates on a first come, first served basis.
At the heart of the Mississippi film tax incentives is a cash rebate. Film rebates are state funds paid directly to a production company for qualifying expenditures. Unlike film tax credits, which can be claimed only after a production company files a tax return with the state, rebates do not require producers to file a return.
Ryan Broussard, Wrapbook’s VP of Sales and Production Incentives, describes film tax rebates as essentially “buckets of cash” that can be accessed by productions that meet certain requirements.
In Mississippi there are two unique production tax incentive programs. They are:
Administered by the Mississippi Film Office, Film MS, The Motion Picture Production Tax Incentive Program provides a cash rebate on eligible expenditures and payroll. The program also provides sales and use tax reductions on eligible rentals and purchases.
The program has a minimum spend of $50,000 per project. This means that productions must spend at least $50,000 in Mississippi to qualify.
There is a $10 million project cap on the Mississippi film incentive, meaning $10 million is the most amount of money that can be awarded to any particular project.
The Motion Picture Production Tax Incentive Program has a $20 million annual rebate cap, which represents the total amount of money the Film MS office has allocated in funding per fiscal year. Mississippi’s fiscal year is July 1 to June 30.
There is no minimum requirement for number of production days or percentage of production spend (as a portion of the production’s total budget) to qualify for the Mississippi film tax rebate.
However, at least 20% of the crew on your payroll must be residents of Mississippi in order for your production to qualify for the Mississippi Motion Picture Production Tax Incentive Program.
In addition to the Mississippi Motion Picture Production Tax Incentive Program, the Mississippi Film Office launched a new tax incentive program for episodic series in 2023.
The new program, called the Mississippi Episodic Television Incentive Program, provides $10 million annually as a cash rebate on eligible expenditures and payroll for episodic television productions defined as no less than two episodes made in Mississippi.
Like the Mississippi Motion Picture Production Tax Incentive Program, the Television Incentive Program also offers sales and use tax reductions on eligible rentals and purchases. The rebate rates for the television program, however, are different than those for the motion picture program—but more on that in a bit.
Recently, Wrapbook Co-Founder Cameron Woodward and Ryan Broussard sat down with Nina Parikh, Head of the Mississippi Film Office, and Toni Miceli, CEO of RTR Media to discuss the Mississippi film rebate.
RTR Media produces the hit HGTV series Home Town, set in Laurel, Mississippi. Parikh and Miceli’s episode of Wrapbook’s On Production podcast offers eye-opening additional insights into the benefits of the Mississippi film tax incentive program.
Film MS’s Mississippi film tax credit is available for:
The rebate applies to productions utilizing all types of mediums, including:
Understanding the application process and fulfilling the criteria for the Mississippi film tax rebate is essential for qualification regardless of the type of production. In the following sections, we'll guide you through all the necessary requirements and the application procedure.
But before we dive into the specifics, let's discuss the potential financial benefits of filming in Mississippi.
To maximize your Mississippi film tax credits, it's essential to understand the qualified expenditures that contribute to the credit. These expenditures encompass both direct production and post-production spending within the state of Mississippi. They must be subject to taxation by the state to qualify for the film tax credit.
Qualified expenditures can be categorized into two main categories:
Up first, the wages your production pays to cast and crew.
Film MS offers different rebate amounts based on whether your production qualifies for the Mississippi Motion Picture Production Tax Incentive Program or the Mississippi Episodic Television Incentive Program.
There are also different rebate percentages based on whether you’re employing Mississippi residents or non residents.
A production is eligible for a 30% cash rebate on payroll paid to resident cast and crew whose wages are subject to Mississippi income tax withholding.
There is a salary cap of $5 million per resident, meaning only the first $5M in wages per person counts toward the tax credit. A resident is defined as someone who lives in Mississippi or maintains a home in the state and spends more than six months in the state.
Examples of documents that count toward proof of residency include a Mississippi driver’s license, voter’s registration card, or proof of a mortgage for an eligible Mississippi property.
Minors also qualify for the payroll rebate and their parents’ residency information can be used in conjunction when determining the minor’s residency status.
For the Mississippi Episodic Television Incentive Program, a 35% cash rebate is available on payroll paid to resident cast and crew. There is a salary cap of $3 million per resident.
A production is eligible for a 25% cash rebate on payroll paid to non-resident cast and crew whose wages are subject to Mississippi income tax withholding.
There is a salary cap of $5 million per nonresident. To be eligible for the 25% rebate on payroll paid to nonresident employees, the project must either be:
For the Mississippi Episodic Television Incentive Program, a 20% cash rebate is available on payroll paid to non-resident cast and crew. There is a salary cap of $3 million per nonresident.
A production is eligible for a 25% rebate of their base investment (local spend) on production related expenditures in Mississippi.
As a general rule, Mississippi spend is defined as expenditures paid to Mississippi vendors and companies, including cast and crew non-payroll expenditures (i.e., per diems and housing allowances) and all fringes.
Payments made for airfares directly related to the project in Mississippi where travel is to and from airports in Mississippi, Baton Rouge, Little Rock, New Orleans, Memphis, or Mobile are qualified spend only if reservations are made through a Mississippi-based travel agent or agency.
The rental or purchase of equipment and production specific goods and services is qualified spend in the following instances:
In conjunction with the spend rebate, Mississippi has a reduced sales and use tax that production companies can qualify for as part of the state tax refund for Mississippi.
Production equipment and machinery used directly in the filming and/or editing of a project may be taxed at the reduced rate of 1.5%.
The following production equipment is eligible for this reduced rate:
A production must register for a use tax number and a Direct Pay Permit online through the Mississippi Department of Revenue website in order to access the reduced tax rate.
All relevant Department of Revenue documents must be completed, submitted to the Department of Revenue, and approved by the department before sales and use tax reductions can be taken.
A production may register immediately upon being approved into Film MS’s Mississippi Motion Picture Production Tax Incentive Program.
The Mississippi film incentive program offers an additional 5% bonus for payroll of honorably discharged veterans of the United States Armed Forces. As with the other payroll incentives, the veteran’s wages must be subject to Mississippi income tax withholding.
To qualify for the Mississippi film tax credit, production companies must adhere to a set of specific requirements.
In the week before the first day of principal photography in Mississippi, the production must supply the Mississippi Film Office the following information:
As mentioned previously, at least 20% of the production crew must be residents of Mississippi.
Additionally, loan-out corporations involved in the production process are required to register with the Department of Revenue. Loan-outs must have a 5% withholding to qualify for the cast and crew payroll tax rebate. In order to elect Mississippi payroll tax withholding, use the state of Mississippi withholding form.
Along with loan-out withholding, Mississippi income tax must be withheld on all payroll. The Mississippi income tax withholding rate is 3% to 5%.
It's essential for production companies to comply with these tax withholding regulations to remain eligible for the tax credit.
Lastly, the state conducts independent audits of all productions that receive Mississippi tax rebates to ensure compliance with the program's guidelines and regulations.
If your production company is based outside of Mississippi, you may need to work with a Mississippi production partner, like Eyevox Entertainment, in order to qualify for a Mississippi tax rebate.
A Mississippi production partner can be a director, producer, production supervisor or manager, director of photography, production designer, casting director, production company, production services company, or post production services company.
To qualify as a production partner, the individual or company also must have been associated with the production of at least two nationally distributed motion pictures made in Mississippi within the last 10 years. This ensures that anyone designated a production partner is actively helping showcase MS in film.
Finally, the production partner must have filed income taxes in Mississippi the previous three years as verified by the Mississippi Department of Revenue.
Applying for the Mississippi film tax rebate is simple.
Your production must submit the Mississippi Motion Picture Incentive Application and all documentation (vendor list, script, shoot schedule, etc.) prior to the beginning of production. It is suggested the application be submitted four-six weeks prior to the start of pre-production spending in Mississippi.
Mississippi also requires all productions to fill out a rebate template, which is a spreadsheet that requires uploads and hyperlinks to all qualified expenses. The film office will send the rebate template by email after a production qualifies for the Mississippi film tax rebate. Productions that apply for the tax rebate are required to submit the rebate template after their production wraps in Mississippi.
We recommend you track and record this information throughout your production and not after the fact, when it will be much harder to gather.
The Magnolia State offers a world of possibility for your next production; and with Mississippi’s generous film tax rebate, you’ll be saving money by filming in this Gulf Coast production hub. Since the Mississippi film tax rebate is offered on a first-come, first-served basis, few states rival MS in film tax rebate accessibility.
For a comprehensive analysis of film incentives throughout the United States, delve into Wrapbook's detailed breakdown of incentives by state. Take it a step further and immerse yourself in Wrapbook’s Production Incentive Center for answers to all of your incentive inquiries.
At Wrapbook, we pride ourselves on providing outstanding free resources to producers and their crews, but this post is for informational purposes only as of the date above. The content on our website is not intended to provide and should not be relied on for legal, accounting, or tax advice. You should consult with your own legal, accounting, or tax advisors to determine how this general information may apply to your specific circumstances.
Tom is a filmmaker, producer, and marketing specialist based in Los Angeles.
