Screen Producers Ireland (SPI) + the Independent Production Levy

Screen Producers Ireland (SPI) is the representative trade association for independent film, television and animation producers on the island of Ireland. It negotiates collective agreements (with guilds and broadcasters), lobbies on policy (the S481/S487A credits, content levies, public-service funding), and runs an annual membership. Membership runs the calendar year (January to December) and is conditional on the membership fee being paid.

The Independent Production Levy

SPI member companies (and any associated company) pay an Independent Production Levy on each film, television or animation production they make. The mechanics:

• Rate: 0.25% of the full eligible spend per the project's Section 481 certificate. For a production funded through Screen Ireland or Coimisiún na Meán rather than via S481, the basis is instead the total Irish spend per the production loan agreement.
• Cap: €20,000 per project.
• Animation: a 65% discount off the figure (so an effective 0.0875%).
• No minimum threshold.
• Payable on or before the first day of principal photography (or first animation drawings).
• RTÉ / TG4 commissions: the levy is paid directly by the broadcaster, so the producer owes nothing on those projects.

The levy is a production cost, not a financing source — it sits in the budget, not the finance plan, and is distinct from any Recoupment Corridor deduction.

In Togra

SPI membership is a flag on the Company profile (the SPI member checkbox, alongside PACT). When set, the Finance Model (Section 481 — the Irish scripted tax credit tab) shows a read-only SPI Independent Production Levy panel that estimates the figure from the eligible Irish spend already entered for the credit: it applies the 0.25% rate, the animation discount when the format is Animation, the €20,000 cap, and the RTÉ/TG4 broadcaster waiver (auto-detected from the project's commissions). The panel is informational — it does not post a budget line. Engine: lib/spi_levy.php (spi_compute_levy()), mirrored in the JS finance engine.

Related

• Section 481 — the Irish scripted tax credit — the eligible-spend basis the levy is charged on
• Net profits — the calculation basis · Recoupment Corridor — the levy is a cost, separate from the recoupment waterfall
• Screen Ireland (Fís Éireann) · CnaM Sound & Vision — the alternative funding routes that drive the Irish-spend basis when a project is not on S481