[WATCH] Maltese film industry eligible for tax deductions

Maltese film industry eligible for tax deductions

Investors in the local film industry will be eligible to a 150% tax deduction, tourism minister Edward Zammit Lewis said today.

The minister explained that the scheme will be extended to training initiatives.

He also announced another incentive in the form of a grant for local film producers who enter international competitions and festivals.

Acknowledging the industry’s extremely competitive nature, Zammit Lewis said these incentives are aimed at helping Malta-based producers to penetrate the international market.

“It’s a very competitive industry and we’re not getting ahead of ourselves, but we have to start from somewhere,” he told a press conference. “These incentives are the first step in a marathon.”

He said that the film industry fulfils a double function – that of generating money into the economy and of promoting Malta as a tourism destination.

However, he argued that the industry must be more stabilised, rather than one that peaks when a major production is filmed on the island, but drops the rest of the year.

“To that end, we are looking to branch into the TV commercial subsector,” he said.