The resources for the selective and automatic programs of HFAC-Creative Greece have been secured – New date for the reopening of the cash rebate platform
Cash Rebate-FTV
Percentage of investment return and state aid cap
Investment projects for audiovisual works, which qualify for funding under the CRGR-FTV scheme, shall be supported by the Greek State through a 40% return of the value of the eligible production costs implemented within the Greek territory and not exceeding eighty percent (80%) of the total production cost for the entirety of the audiovisual production work (eligible production expenses).
The total subsidy for the CRGR-FTV shall be disbursed in a single instalment to the beneficiary and may not exceed EUR eight million (8,000,000) per audiovisual work.
State aid beneficiaries
Undertakings that are established or have a branch or a presence in the Greek territory from the time of application for qualification to the completion of the random check procedures and operate for the purpose of: (aa) production or executive production of audiovisual works; (ab) production of audiovisual works in the context of a cross-border production, provided that the application for qualification is submitted by a producer established or having a branch or presence in the Greek territory and the aid shall be granted wholly to it.
Foreign producers of audiovisual works that are established or have their registered office in states that are not included in the non-cooperating states of Article 65 par. 3 of the Income Tax Code (Law 4172/2013, A’ 167), provided that for the purposes hereof, said producers cooperate under contract with a business established or with a branch or presence in the Greek territory and operating as executive producer of audiovisual works or part thereof, who will also submit the application for qualification. Aid shall be provided to the undertaking that the contracting parties expressly specify as beneficiary thereof, in the application for qualification.
Undertakings established or having a branch or planning to develop a presence in the Greek territory, must have stated Activity Codes (A.C.) 59.11 Motion Picture, video and television programme production activities, and 59.12 Motion picture, video and television programme post-production services.
Moreover, at the time of commencement of the investment project and at such time the aid is granted, they shall be of one of the following forms: a) sole proprietorship; b) legal person or legal entity with commercial operation; c) co-operative; d) business operating in the form of a joint venture, on the condition that it has been registered in the General Commercial Registry (GEMI), it states the commercial activity it carries out in its Statutes, and it has stated the relevant activity code numbers. Companies in the process of establishment or merger, are required to have completed the publicity formalities prior to the start of the investment project.
Total minimum eligible costs implemented in the Greek territory (minimum local spending)
For an investment project for an audiovisual work with fictional or creative documentation (documentary) content to qualify for funding under the CRGR-FTV aid scheme, the total eligible costs implemented within the Greek territory, regardless of applicant size, must amount to at least:
Theatrical or television films with fictional content: EUR two hundred thousand (200,000)
Films with creative documentation (documentaries) content: EUR sixty thousand (60,000)
Theatrical or television short films: EUR forty-five thousand (45,000)
Television mini-series up to sixteen (16) episodes in length with fictional content: EUR one hundred and twenty thousand (120,000) per episode produced for their first two (2) seasons
Television series with fictional content which are not mini-series: EUR thirty-five thousand (35,000) per episode produced for their first two (2) seasons. A maximum of one hundred and fifty (150) episodes qualify for the first season. The second season of the qualifying series may include up to twenty-five (25%) percent more episodes than the approved episodes of the first season.
Types of audiovisual works not eligible for the aid schemes of the CRGR-FTV
(a) videotaped or filmed artistic performances and events, such as theatre, opera, dance, music; (b) any form of sports broadcast, sports review or coverage of sports match or event; (c) informative, news, news review or informatory shows and programmes; (d) various entertainment programmes, talk-show programmes and televised interviews; (e) advertising messages, telemarketing shows and social messages; (f) programmes with pornographic content; (g) programmes presenting or promoting various corporate, entertainment and cultural events; (h) purely educational programmes and distance learning and information programmes; (i) programmes showing lack of respect for human dignity and programmes that include or promote discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, nationality, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation; (j) television or telephone games.
Eligible expenses
(a) above the line expenses concerning the fee of the screenwriter, the director and the music copyrights;
(b) below the line costs for all kinds of services directly related to the production of the audiovisual work, such as accommodation and food, transportation, rental of equipment and studios, procurement of materials, purchases of equipment and consumables that are not fixed assets, wage costs for the jobs necessary for implementing the investment project;
(c) post-production costs, such as editing, visual effects, sound editing, connected to the investment project for the production of an independent audiovisual work;
(d) other production costs; and
(e) costs related to the improvement of accessibility for people with disabilities.
For the calculation of the total eligible production costs, the following restrictions shall apply:
a) all premiums and guarantee costs shall be counted in total and the maximum eligible cost shall be the respective five (5%) percent of the total eligible production cost;
b) the music rights, as well as the fee of the director, the screenwriter and the two leading actors shall be calculated up to the percentage of thirty (30%) percent of the total eligible cost;
c) the following shall not be calculated in the total eligible production cost:
ca) the cost for financial assets, fixed assets and depreciation thereof, such as technical equipment, plots and buildings, lending cost, bank expenses;
cb) the cost for marketing, promotion and communication actions.
Starting date of cost eligibility
The starting date of cost eligibility shall be the day of submission of the application for qualification. Production costs for a pilot of an independent audiovisual work shall not be included in these costs. In the event that works start on an investment project before the aforementioned date of the application for qualification, with the exception of pre-production activities which do not constitute the start of an investment project, the entire investment project shall become ineligible to receive funding from any of the aid schemes.
For audiovisual works involving eligible costs over EUR eight million (8,000,000), for the costs concerning director’s fees and the fees of the two (2) leading roles (cast), it shall be permitted to receive invoices issued by natural persons or companies or other legal entities having their registered office or being permanently established in a foreign country, provided that the above-mentioned foreign country is not a non-cooperating state within the meaning of article 65 par. 3 of the Income Tax Code (Law 4172/2013 Α’ 167). The value of the foreign invoices mentioned in the first point may not exceed twenty percent (20%) of the total eligible costs of the investment project (VAT excluded).
Application submission – Evaluation process
Applications for qualification of an investment project under the aid schemes of the CRGR-FTV shall be submitted to the Granting Authority “Hellenic Film and Audiovisual Center S.A.-Creative Greece” (H.F.A.C.-Creative Greece), up to ten (10) days before the start date of the production or/and post-production of the investment project, through the information system determined by the Granting Authority.
The evaluation process of the application shall be conducted by three-member Evaluation Committees, within three (3) months from submission of the application to the information system.
The applicant undertaking may request the issue of a letter of intent by the Granting Authority upon successful completion of the completeness and legality evaluations, namely in thirty (30) business days from the submission of the application. The Granting Authority (H.F.A.C.-Creative Greece) shall provide the letter of intent, subject to the successful completion of the evaluation by the competent Evaluation Committees and the issuance of the relevant decision qualifying the investment project for the aid scheme.
The evaluation process is hereafter particularly strict and no extension for resubmission, completion or correction of supporting documents or data shall be granted after these thirty (30) working days. An extension to the deadline may be granted only in extraordinary or unforeseen circumstances or due to demonstrable fault of the public body which delays the issue of the relevant documents.
A single appeal – objection may be filed electronically through the information system designated by the Granting Authority within a deadline of seven (7) business days from the notification of the relevant rejection act issued: (a) in response to the application for qualification for funding after the evaluation procedure; and (b) against the decision approving the conclusions of the Evaluation Committee, if the content of this decision differs from the content of the application. Such appeals shall be considered administrative appeals within the meaning of article 25 of the Code of Administrative Procedure (Law 2690/1999, A’ 45). A single appeal – objection may be filed against the conclusions of the evaluation of the application for qualification for funding. The decision on the appeal shall render the decision to approve or reject the evaluation conclusions final, and no other stages of administrative appeal shall be permitted.
Monitoring and Verification of the Investment Projects
The implementation of the investment projects shall be monitored and verified by an appointed Monitoring and Verification Officer of the Investment Project, who shall be responsible for ensuring compliance with the terms of qualification throughout the implementation of the investment project, and support the investor throughout the entirety of the co-operation with H.F.A.C.-Creative Greece, until the successful and lawful completion of each investment project.
Amendments to the terms for qualification of investment projects approved for funding by the Evaluation Committees are permitted during and until the end of implementation, by application of the undertaking before the end of the investment project, and may exclusively concern:
(a) The variable internal redistribution of categories of eligible costs included in the approved investment project, under the condition that no category of eligible cost exceeds an increase of twenty (20%) percent.
(b) Amendments concerning the physical scope of the investment project, associated with changes to the cultural criteria.
(c) Amendments concerning the extension of the completion time of the investment project, as declared in the decision qualifying the project for funding. Extensions may not exceed six (6) months or, exclusively for cases of force majeure, a period equal to that of the interruption or delay due to the extraordinary circumstances. In this case, the applicant undertaking shall provide a detailed description of the timeline, the events which led to the interruption or delay in the completion of the investment projects, and documents and data justifying the reasons for the amendment.
(d) Amendments concerning the applicant undertaking, due to merger or spin-off or transfer due to universal succession, which occurs during the process of implementation of the investment project.
(e) Increases to the eligible cost budget of up to ten (10%) percent within the approved production budget in cases of unforeseen circumstances.
Applications for amendment shall be accepted provided that the general terms and conditions for qualification of the project for funding continue to be fulfilled and their nature is not altered.
Any new application by the same operator regarding the amendment of the terms of the decision qualifying the work for funding with the same content shall not be examined in substance and is archived. Applications resubmitted within the provided deadlines in compliance with the observations of the competent Evaluation Committee shall not be considered new applications.
Amendments hereof shall not apply to eligible costs on invoices that have been issued by natural or legal persons or other legal entities having their registered office or permanent establishment in a foreign country (foreign invoices).
The addition of new television series or mini-series episodes regardless of content cannot be the subject of an application for amendment of an existing investment project and shall require a new application for qualification for funding. Any new applications for additional television series or mini-series episodes to an existing season shall be considered an application for a second season.
The amendment in the total number of shooting days or the total number of days of other production operations included in the qualifying investment project, if done within the time limits of implementation of the investment project and keeps intact or does not significantly alter the place of shooting as described in the investment project that qualified for approval, shall be submitted as part of the final Report of the certified auditor and shall not require the issuance of a relevant amendment decision by the Granting Authority. Any amendments in accordance with the above shall require that all the necessary legal procedures for obtaining permits and declaration – notification of change of work schedules in accordance with labour legislation are maintained.
Certification of the end of investment projects and disbursement of the subsidy
The undertaking may apply for audit at any time within a six (6) month period from the end of the investment project as defined in the qualification application and approved by the decision qualifying the project for funding, or by the amendment decision, in the case of extensions. The end date of the investment project identifies with the date of application for audit by certified auditor from the undertaking to H.F.A.C.-Creative Greece.
The competent services of the Granting Authority shall verify the submitted supporting documents within fifteen (15) business days from the submission of the application, or within one month, in case any completion of the auditor’s technical report is required. A certification decision is issued by the competent body of the Granting authority within a deadline of ten (10) business days from the relevant recommendation of the service.
The subsidy shall be disbursed within three (3) months from the issue of the decision certifying the end of the investment project, via electronic payment to a bank account of the beneficiary of the investment project, as defined in the decision qualifying the project for funding, held at a credit institution in Greece or the state in which the beneficiary has its registered seat or permanent establishment, and may not be assigned to third parties.
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Legislation in effect
In August 2017, the Hellenic Parliament passed a law (4487/2017), implementing the 25% cash rebate programme for the production of domestic and international audiovisual works. Since September 2018 (4565/2018) the cash rebate was raised to 35% and July 2020, the Hellenic Parliament passed a law (4704/2020) raising the Greek cash rebate that covers part of the eligible costs for national and international audiovisual productions in Greece, up to 40% with flexible terms for TV series and digital games and may serve as collateral for producers to obtain funds through the Greek banking system.