Tax Rebate for International Productions (TRIP): accommodation as an eligible expense

France's Tax Rebate for International Productions refunds 30% of certain production costs incurred in France. Crew accommodation is part of the eligible spend, but not without limits: every night is capped, and every invoice must stand up to scrutiny. Decisions made in prep therefore have a direct effect on the final rebate.

The scheme in figures

The TRIP, known in France as the crédit d'impôt international, is set out in article 220 quaterdecies of the French Tax Code (Code général des impôts). It covers live action and animated fiction, for cinema or television, initiated by a foreign production company.

The rate is 30% of eligible expenditure incurred in France. It rises to 40% for fiction works in which at least 15% of shots involve digital processing, once eligible VFX spending exceeds 2 million euros. The rebate is capped at 30 million euros per project. Eligible expenditure cannot exceed 80% of the production budget.

Eligibility at a glance

• At least 250,000 euros of eligible spend in France, or at least 50% of the budget when the budget is under 500,000 euros.
• For fiction, at least five shooting days in France.
• Elements linked to French culture, heritage or territory, assessed through a points-based cultural test.
• No CNC production funding for the same work.

The 2026 Finance Act (loi n° 2026-103 of 19 February 2026) extended the scheme until 31 December 2028. Later expenses still qualify if provisional approval was granted before that date. The same law removed the nationality requirement for performers and extras. Their fees now count up to 30% of the production budget, for financial years ending on or after 21 February 2026.

Who claims the rebate: the French production service company

The rebate is not paid to the foreign producer. It goes to the French executive production company (entreprise de production exécutive), often called the production service company. French tax guidance defines it as the company that, under a contract with a production company established outside France, brings together the technical and artistic resources for the work and manages the physical operations of production.

This company must be subject to French corporate income tax. It files an application for provisional approval with the CNC, together with the contract or a signed deal memo. Expenses only count from the date the CNC receives that application. Final approval must be obtained no later than 24 months after the last work carried out in France, and requested no later than 22 months after that date. Otherwise, the rebate must be repaid.

The rebate is offset against the company's corporate tax for the year. Any excess is paid out. The claim can also be assigned to a bank.

In practice, this means the French production service company books, pays for and documents the accommodation. It is the one that will have to justify every night.

Accommodation, travel, meals: the caps

French tax guidance (BOFiP, paragraph 170) sets three caps on living costs:

• Accommodation: 270 euros per night in the city of Paris and in the Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne departments. 200 euros per night in every other department.
• Travel: 200 euros per trip and per person within mainland France. 500 euros per trip and per person between mainland France and the overseas territories, or between France and the crew member's country of nationality.
• Meals: 30 euros per meal and per person.

For accommodation, the guidance says "par nuitée" (per night). Unlike the travel and meal caps, it does not add "per person". How the cap applies to a shared room should therefore be confirmed with the production service company's accountant.

These costs must be strictly necessary for the production of the work and incurred in France. Travel costs must be paid to operators established in France and be directly linked to the work produced in France.

What the cap means in practice

The cap does not make an expense ineligible. It only limits the share that counts towards the rebate. A theoretical example: a single room billed at 240 euros a night outside Paris. Only 200 euros count, which gives 60 euros of rebate at 30%. The remaining 40 euros are paid by the production with no tax relief.

Over a few nights, the gap is small. Over a shoot of several weeks with a large crew, it becomes a budget line. Knowing these thresholds before negotiating rates, not after, makes a real difference.

What the production office should prepare

A rebate is also won at closing. A poorly documented expense is hard to defend in a tax audit. A few habits make the work easier:

• Invoices made out to the French production service company, not to the foreign producer or to a crew member.
• Detailed invoices: name and address of the property, dates, number of nights and, where possible, the names of the guests.
• An up-to-date rooming list linking each night to a person and to a period of the shooting schedule.
• A clear split between accommodation, meals and extras, which are not subject to the same caps.
• Tracking by department, since the cap differs between Paris and its inner suburbs and the rest of France.

The tax guidance does not address several common situations: apartments rented by the month, cancellation fees, nights booked but not used, allowances paid to employees. Their treatment should be agreed with the production service company's accountant before the money is committed.

Planning accommodation with the rebate in mind

Foreign productions often discover France through their production service company. The caps, the paperwork and the approval deadlines are constraints they do not always know. Building them in from the first accommodation scout avoids discovering the gap at the final count.

This is the coordination work .FLAIYR. offers productions: sourcing accommodation, negotiating rates with the caps in mind, keeping the rooming list and gathering usable records for the production service company and its accountant.

This article describes the rules in force at the date of publication, October 2026. It does not constitute tax or legal advice. English legal terms are our own translations. Article 220 quaterdecies of the French Tax Code, the guidance published in the BOFiP and the decisions of the CNC prevail. For each project, the production service company's accountant and the CNC are the reference contacts.