Serbia Passes New Cinema Law

COLOGNE, Germany - Serbia has become the latest European country to join the tax rebate club, with local parliament passing a new cinema law it's hoped will attract more international shoots to the territory.

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The new law includes a 15 percent cash rebate for a production's entire local spend as well as a further 12 percent rebate for local labor costs. Those can include costs for foreign crew and talent if they are paid, and taxed, in Serbia during the production.

Neighboring Croatia has had a new film law in place for a year now, which boasts a 20 percent cash rebate for visiting productions. But while Croatia's law, like many in Europe, requires productions to pass a cultural test as sufficiently Croatian to qualify, Serbia has no such restrictions.