Texas Feature Film Incentive Calculator — 2026 TMIIIP Rebate Guide

Feature films — from micro-budget shorts to studio-backed productions — qualify for Texas's most generous incentive tier under TMIIIP: a 25% base rebate on qualifying Texas spend above $500,000.

Texas's Competitive Position for Features

Texas competes directly with Georgia (30%), Louisiana (25–40%), and New Mexico (25–35%) for feature production. Texas's advantages: no state income tax for production entities structured as pass-throughs, a large local crew base in Austin, Houston, and DFW, and a state infrastructure that's matured significantly since the 2009 program launch.

The practical effective rate for most features — accounting for which costs actually qualify — lands between 18% and 24% on total production budget. Understanding the difference between your total budget and your qualifying Texas spend is the first step in any accurate model.

Spend Tiers and Rates

All bonus uplifts (rural, veteran, heritage, faith-based, historic sites) stack on top at 2.5% each, subject to the 31% combined cap.

City Incentive Stacking

Feature films filming in Austin, Houston, San Antonio, or Corpus Christi can stack city-level incentives on top of the state program. Houston's HFFIP, for example, adds 10% (up to $100K) for scripted features meeting local spend minimums. Run a city-specific model to see the full stack.

Large-Budget Productions

For studio productions with $10M+ Texas spend, the program economics shift: the per-$1M qualifying spend analysis becomes more important, and detailed AICP budget categorization determines actual qualifying spend with precision. The Incentive Optimizer's AICP import handles this automatically.