DAC — when required

A Designated Activity Company (DAC) is a private company incorporated in Ireland under the Companies Act 2014, structured for a specific stated purpose. For the screen sector, a DAC is the single-purpose vehicle that produces one qualifying Section 481 — the Irish scripted tax credit project.

When a DAC is required

A separate DAC is required for every S481-eligible production:

The DAC is the entity that:
- Holds the Cultural Certificate from DCCS — Department of Culture, Communications and Sport
- Receives the S481 credit from Revenue — the Irish tax authority
- Holds the chain of title for the production
- Is the contracting entity for cast, crew, suppliers, and financiers

Why a DAC and not a Ltd

A DAC's constitution narrowly defines its activities — it can only do the thing it was set up to do. This is what Revenue and DCCS expect for S481: a clean, single-purpose vehicle whose books and obligations are confined to one production.

Practical consequences

• One feature film → one DAC. A slate of three films → three DACs.
• The DAC is wound up after the S481 final claim is filed and any post-release income (Article 19 transparency obligations, residuals) has been distributed.
• The Producer Company (the producer's continuing trading entity) owns the DAC; the DAC is the project vehicle.

Short films + unscripted

Don't need a DAC because they're not S481-eligible. A short film typically sits inside the Producer Company directly. An unscripted project pursuing Section 487A — the Irish unscripted tax credit is produced by the Producer Company itself — S487A does not require a per-project DAC.