Florida Film Incentives: What Exists and Who to Call

As of Friday, Oct. 2, 2026, Florida has no statewide film tax credit or cash rebate that a South Florida producer can apply for. The program that once did that work, the Entertainment Industry Financial Incentive Program, was repealed as of July 1, 2016, and it no longer appears in the 2026 text of Chapter 288 of the Florida Statutes. What the state does offer is a sales tax exemption on production purchases, and the real money on offer in the region sits one level down, in county rebates, grants and festival-linked funds, with a federal credit now moving through Congress above them.

That layered picture is why owners and filmmakers get confused. A rebate that needs a $400,000 local spend, a $10,000 grant that needs a Broward address and a festival fund that needs a Miami-Dade address are three different doors with three different keys. This guide sorts what exists, who runs it and which call comes first, using the programs’ own pages read this week.

The State Layer: One Program, and It Is a Tax Exemption

The state’s film program today is the Entertainment Industry Sales Tax Exemption, run by FloridaCommerce’s Office of Film and Entertainment with the Department of Revenue. A qualified production company can buy or rent qualifying equipment, set materials, props, wardrobe and production computers without paying sales tax at the register, and the Commerce program page says savings run up to 7.5%. It covers films, television series, commercials, music videos and sound recordings. Still photography is not a qualified production activity.

There are two certificate types. Any production company, Florida-based or not, can receive a single 90-day certificate and request an extension. A Florida-based company that has operated at a permanent Florida address for 12 consecutive months can receive a 12-month certificate and renew it annually for up to five years. The Department of Revenue explains that Commerce decides whether a company qualifies and the Department then issues the certificate within five working days of Commerce’s notice, while Commerce’s own page says a completed application leads to a certificate in two to three business days.

The exemption is narrower than many first-time applicants expect. Food and catering, lodging, travel, vehicle rentals, office supplies, makeup and film or videotape are on the list of items that do not qualify. Rentals and leases of real property are no longer taxable in Florida as of Oct. 1, 2025, the Department of Revenue notes. Our how-to on applying for the exemption walks through the steps, and Commerce lists (850) 717-8990 and Partnership.Engagement@commerce.fl.gov for questions.

What Florida Used to Have

The retired program still shapes the conversation. The statute’s own text says the section was repealed on July 1, 2016, except that credits already certified could still be awarded and some reporting subsections stayed in effect until July 1, 2021. A state economic review of the program describes it as running from July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2016. Nothing in the 2026 chapter replaces it.

The Palm Beach County Film and Television Commission put the current situation plainly in a March 2026 release, calling Florida one of only 12 states without a statewide film incentive program. Why the state ended up there, and what a revival would have to solve, is the subject of our earlier piece on why Florida fell behind on film.

Broward: The County With a Menu

Broward County has built the region’s most detailed local program. The Broward County Board of County Commissioners created a Film Commission and a set of performance-based rebates through Resolution No. 2021-518, and the program runs today as Film Lauderdale. Film Florida’s incentive page describes Film Lauderdale and Broward as having the largest local incentive fund for screen production in the state. The rebates pay after the work is done, once a production accountant documents local spend and hires, and a project can apply to only one program.

Two details decide most outcomes. Applications must be made before principal photography, and the larger programs require a meeting with the Film Commission before applying. That makes the Film Commission the first call for anyone with a Broward shoot, at +1-954-357-8788 or film@filmlauderdale.org, ahead of any paperwork. Our guide to how Broward vendors and producers use the rebates covers the residency, vendor and crew percentages in depth.

The smallest program is the one most independent filmmakers will meet first. The Emerging Filmmakers Grant pays $10,000 to a Broward-based filmmaker, who must show matching funds of $10,000, which puts the minimum project budget at $20,000. The county’s page says applications may be submitted starting Oct. 1, 2026 and lists a six-month Broward residency requirement, a producer attached if the applicant is a director or writer, and at least 80% of production days in Broward. The page is inconsistent on payment: one passage describes three payments and the overview and grants page describe four quarterly payments, so ask which applies before budgeting cash flow. The details are in our Emerging Filmmakers Grant guide.

Miami-Dade: Rebate on Paper, Grants in Practice

Miami-Dade County’s Film and Entertainment Office handles permits and keeps a grants and funding page, and its incentives page today leads with the same state sales tax exemption. A county memo dated Dec. 12, 2023, with a resolution numbered R-1085-23 on the file copy, sets out the High Impact Film Fund Program for major television series and motion pictures. The memo describes a minimum of $5 million in local spending, funding of up to $10 million per fiscal year subject to available funds, and a performance-based rebate. An example in the resolution pairs $5 million of local spending with a $500,000 rebate, while a comparison table in the memo lists a rebate of up to 20%.

What the office’s pages do not show today is an open application window or a current-year funding figure for that program, so a producer weighing a Miami-Dade shoot should call the office before building it into a budget. For smaller projects the grants page is more useful. It lists The Louies, a documentary fund of $100,000 for Miami-Dade filmmakers, and The Louies now has a clock: applications close Nov. 6, 2026, with a virtual information session on Oct. 13 at 5:30 p.m. The fund’s program page lists a feature award of $50,000, three short awards of $10,000 and two finishing awards of $10,000, and it is open to Miami-Dade residents only.

Palm Beach County: Support Instead of Rebates

Palm Beach County works differently. The county’s Film and Television Commission reported production spend above $260 million in 2025, its fourth consecutive record year, and its site advertises free one-stop permitting rather than a rebate. Film Florida’s incentive page lists, for Palm Beach County, the commission’s Sponsorship and Development program, which funds tourism programming for the county’s Palm Beaches TV channel. Producers can email admin@pbfilm.com or call 561.233.1000, the contacts Film Florida lists, to ask whether a project fits.

For a Palm Beach County owner the practical map is short. The state exemption applies to a qualified company wherever it shoots in Florida, and local permitting runs through the commission. The Broward rebates require Broward spending, though several of them count Palm Beach and Miami-Dade residents toward part of the main cast and crew requirement.

The Federal Layer: A Bill, Not a Benefit Yet

On Sept. 24, 2026, Sens. Tim Scott and Adam Schiff, with Sens. John Cornyn and Raphael Warnock, introduced the Motion Picture, Television, and Entertainment Revitalization Act, and Rep. Nathaniel Moran introduced a companion bill in the House. The senators’ announcement describes a 20% labor-based federal credit for qualifying film and television productions with at least $1 million in spending and at least 75% of principal photography days in the United States. Optional 5% bonuses, capped at a 30% total, are listed for productions in rural opportunity zones or federally declared disaster areas, independent productions, producers working in 10 or more states, and producers who show measurable onshoring.

On Sept. 28, Schiff’s office announced a list of eight Senate cosponsors, including Sens. Steve Daines, Andy Kim, Bernie Moreno, Alex Padilla, Tim Sheehy and Mark Warner. The bill text posted by Schiff’s office says it would apply to productions whose principal photography begins in taxable years starting after Dec. 31, 2026. It has not passed either chamber. The sponsors also say the credit is designed to supplement state incentives, and Florida has none to stack it on, a gap our owner map on the introduced bill and our look at stacking work through. Treat any federal figure as a proposal until a law is signed.

Grants and Festivals: Money In, Fees Out

Between rebates and a federal credit sits a layer that smaller companies use more often: grants and festival circuits, collected in the SoFla Business Grants and Incentives Guide. The Film Lauderdale grants page also points to funds outside Broward, including the Film Florida Don Davis Film Finishing Fund, the Florida Emerging Filmmakers Fund at $1,000 to $2,000 per project, the Roy W. Dean Film Grants and Women in Film and Television Florida finishing funds for members. Each has its own cycle, so confirm dates on each fund’s page rather than relying on a list.

Festivals run the other way, because they cost money to enter and reward timing. The Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival’s 41st edition runs Feb. 19 to 27, 2027, with a Regular deadline of Nov. 1, 2026 and a Late deadline of Dec. 1, and the 44th Miami Film Festival runs April 1 to 11, 2027. Fees move with each deadline and are set at checkout, so this guide does not print them. Our maps of the Miami Film Festival’s 44th-edition deadlines and the FLIFF41 calendar track both.

Who to Call First

The shortest path depends on the project. A Broward shoot with a real local budget starts with the Film Commission at Film Lauderdale, before application paperwork and before principal photography. A shoot anywhere in the state that buys gear and set materials should file the state sales tax exemption application early, since a certificate takes days, not hours. A Miami-Dade documentary maker with a story and a rough cut should read The Louies’ page this week, and a Palm Beach County company should start with the county commission and ask whether the project fits its tourism programming.

A producer with a $10 million series is in a different conversation, one that the county page says runs through a County Administration selection committee. When a program’s page and its overview disagree, as the county’s does on grant payments, an email to the program is faster than a guess.

Dates to Keep

Key Facts for Owners and Search

• State incentive status: No statewide film tax credit or rebate is open. The Entertainment Industry Financial Incentive Program (s. 288.1254) was repealed July 1, 2016, with limited carry-over provisions that ran to July 1, 2021. The ongoing state program is the Entertainment Industry Sales Tax Exemption under s. 288.1258.
• Sales tax exemption: 90-day certificate for any qualified production company; 12-month certificate for Florida-based companies with 12 consecutive months at a permanent Florida address, renewable annually up to five years. Commerce: savings up to 7.5%. Still photography does not qualify. Contact: (850) 717-8990, Partnership.Engagement@commerce.fl.gov.
• Broward rebates: Film & TV $400,000 minimum, 20%, $800,000 cap; High Impact $5 million, 20%, $2 million; Scripted Series $12 million, 25%, $5 million; Multiple Project Guarantee $4 million per project, 30%, $2.5 million; Partial Project $1.5 million, 20%, $500,000; TV Commercial $400,000, 15%, $175,000. Apply before principal photography; one program per project. Contact: +1-954-357-8788, film@filmlauderdale.org.
• Emerging Filmmakers Grant: $10,000 with $10,000 match; applications from Oct. 1, 2026; Broward residents only; the county’s page is inconsistent on three versus four payments.
• Miami-Dade: High Impact Film Fund Program described in a Dec. 12, 2023 county memo (minimum $5 million local spend, up to $10 million per fiscal year subject to funds); no open application window found on the office’s pages today. The Louies: $100,000 total, Miami-Dade residents, closes Nov. 6, 2026.
• Palm Beach County: 2025 production spend above $260 million; Film Florida lists the commission’s Sponsorship and Development program for tourism programming, not a rebate.
• Federal: Bill introduced Sept. 24, 2026; 20% base credit, up to 30% with bonuses; $1 million minimum; 75% of principal photography days in the United States; not enacted.
• Primary sources: Florida Department of Revenue, Film in Florida; FloridaCommerce, Film in Florida sales tax exemption; Florida Statutes s. 288.1258 (2026); Film Lauderdale incentive programs; Film Lauderdale grants; Film Florida incentive programs; Miami-Dade Film and Entertainment Office; Palm Beach County Film and Television Commission; Sen. Schiff, Sept. 24 announcement; FLIFF festivals; The Louies; Florida EDR return-on-investment report.

How does a production get the sales tax exemption? Through an online application to FloridaCommerce that asks for estimated financials for the certificate term. The Department of Revenue then issues the certificate after Commerce approves it.

Can a Palm Beach County producer use Broward rebates? Only for work done in Broward. The programs set Broward spending minimums and production-day rules.