New Mexico settles film rebate backlog

The New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department announced recently that by late June they will have paid out almost $100m in a backlog of film credits.

The money is owed to around 100 film and TV productions that filmed in the state over the last few years, with an additional pot of around $95m to be paid out over the next 12 months to clear the decks for future productions. 

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said of the move: “In New Mexico, we pay our debts, simple as that. These film and television producers made a commitment to our state, employing New Mexicans and providing an economic boost to all sorts of local companies in rural and urban communities alike. 

“This administration will continue to proactively and aggressively fix the issues we inherited while at the same time building on shared priorities that keep New Mexicans employed”. 

Productions are eligible for tax credits on money spent on service providers and goods along with wages paid to local residents. 

New Mexico Film Office director Todd Christensen said the backlog of payments had been affecting companies planning to shoot in the state. “Productions can now plan and budget with more certainty, and that means the state is a much better place to do business than it was a year ago. The industry has noticed New Mexico wants to be a serious partner.”

New Mexico is an established production hub, with high-profile companies such as Netflix and NBCUniversal committed to developing major new filming facilities there. 

The state’s new Film Production Tax Credit Act takes effect on 1 July; it includes the doubling of the annual payout to $110m a year for qualified expenditure plus an extra 5% incentive for production in areas outside the Santa Fe-Albuquerque ‘corridor’.

For more on filming in New Mexico, head to our production guide. 

Photo:FreeImages.com/Robert Linder.