New Jersey Film & Digital Media Tax Credit
New Jersey offers a 30% transferable credit on qualified film spend (35% for South Jersey vendor spend), plus a 2–4% diversity bonus. Most productions sell the credit — and for 2026+ approvals the state itself buys credits at 95% of face value, so it behaves almost like cash. Qualify by spending 60% of your budget through NJ vendors or more than $1M in-state.
How the program works
- • 30% of qualified New Jersey film production expenses
- • +5% — South Jersey vendor uplift: Spend through vendors based in a South Jersey county (Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Mercer, Salem) earns 35% instead of 30%.
- • +4% — Diversity bonus: An NJEDA-approved diversity plan adds 2–4% (modeled at 4%).
- Max effective rate: 39%
- • Minimum qualified spend: $1,000,000
- • Qualify by EITHER spending ≥60% of total production expenses (excluding post) through NJ vendors OR exceeding $1M in qualified NJ expenses.
- • Loan-out and independent-contractor payments require 6.37% NJ withholding for services performed in NJ.
- • Per-individual compensation caps apply; the digital-media track and studio-partner track have separate rates and allocations.
- • CPA / state audit required
- • Screen-credit / logo requirement
How it becomes cash
This is a transferable credit. Most indie productions don't owe enough state tax to use it, so you sell it to a company that does — usually through a broker, at a discount. That discount is the real cost of turning the credit into cash.
Annual caps run by track: $100M film / $30M digital media / $150M studio-partner. The state's credit-purchase budget (95% buyback) is $80M FY2026, $160M FY2027, $240M FY2028, $200M thereafter. Unawarded amounts generally roll forward.
Are you a film commissioner or agency with official updates to this program? If you have corrections to this documentation, please submit them here.
Submit an update →This is an estimate, not advice.
Every number here is an estimate generated from published program rules and your inputs. Programs change with each legislative session, and qualification depends on details a calculator can't see. This is not tax, legal, or financial advice. Before you make a financing decision, confirm everything with the state film office and a qualified CPA and entertainment attorney.