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SCAM ALERT: DCEO has been made aware of organizations receiving fraudulent “notice of award” letters claiming to be from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. These are not legitimate notices from DCEO. If your organization receives a notice, please report it to the Federal Trade Commission and/or the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Rules/Requirements

The following are the rules and requirements for the Illinois Film Tax Credit:

  • Illinois Production Spending includes tangible, personal property and services purchased from Illinois vendors and compensation paid to Illinois resident employees; and non-resident labor up to $500,000 per worker for up to thirteen (13) non-resident employees other than non-resident actors for work performed in Illinois.  Only wages and employer paid benefits for 4 non-resident actors included for projects budgeted at under $20MM Illinois spend, 5 non-resident actors included for projects budgeted between $20MM - $40MM Illinois spend, 6 actors included for projects budgeted at over $40MM Illinois spend. For purposes of calculating Illinois labor expenditures for a television series, the eligible non-resident wage limitations are applied per episode to the entire season.  Subject to other limitations, only wages and employer paid benefits to no more than 2 executive producers per accredited production may be considered Illinois labor expenditures. Line producers are not subject to the 2-producer limit.  
  • Must spend at least $50,000 in Illinois Production Spending for a project less than 30 minutes.
  • Must spend at least $100,000 in Illinois Production Spending for a project 30 minutes or over.
  • Receipts and financial materials must be processed by a Certified Public Accountant.

Complete set of IFO Tax Credit Rules and Requirements

Illinois Film Production Services Tax Credit Act