Headline rate, caps, minimum spend, payroll fringe, and the official film office for New York. Reference data for producers, line producers, and financiers structuring a New York shoot.
+10% upstate labor; +5–10% Production Plus bonus
Illustrative reference. Verify before deal.
New York's May 2025 budget raised the primary film tax credit cap to $800 million, the largest active incentive pool in the country, with a separate $100 million allocation for independent productions at a 30% rate. The main program offers a refundable credit with stackable uplifts including 10% for upstate labor and 5–10% through the Production Plus bonus for filming outside of New York City. The minimum spend is $1 million in the NYC metro area and $250,000 elsewhere, and the program includes separate post-production and visual-effects credits. New York's production ecosystem is unmatched outside of Los Angeles: Steiner Studios, Kaufman Astoria, Broadway Stages, and numerous facilities across all five boroughs and upstate provide massive stage capacity, while the city's IATSE crew base is the deepest on the East Coast. Producers should budget for New York's high payroll burden (28–34%) and workers' compensation (3.67%), which are among the highest nationally but are partially offset by the program's scale and refundable structure.
The questions producers ask first when sizing a New York shoot, answered against the state's current program structure and fringe environment.
Headline rate is the start, not the end. Compare New York side-by-side with every other U.S. jurisdiction on caps, minimum spend, refundability, and fringe before locking the location.
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