Entertainment and Media Tax Clip: Manitoba's Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit extended and enhanced (August 10, 2010)

Manitoba Bill 31, which received royal assent on June 17, 2010, enhances the province's Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit by:

  • extending the credit by three years to December 31, 2013;
  • providing that, for certificates of eligibility and tax credit certificates issued after March 23, 2010:
    • eligible labour costs will not be reduced for repaid or repayable government assistance; and
    • tax credit certificates can be issued on a taxation-year basis, instead of at the end of a project.

However, the bill imposes a limitation when a government or public authority purchases an interactive digital media project.

Manitoba Bill 31, The Budget Implementation and Tax Statutes Amendment Act, 2010, extends the province's Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit by three years, so that eligible Manitoba salaries incurred on projects for which prototyping and product development begins before January 1, 2014, will qualify for the credit.

Bill 31 also provides that, for certificates of eligibility and tax credit certificates issued after March 23, 2010:

  • repaid or repayable government assistance will no longer reduce eligible labour costs;
  • tax credit certificates can be issued on a taxation-year basis instead of at the end of a project; and
  • when a government or public authority purchases an interactive digital media product, the amount paid by the purchaser plus the amount of the Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit cannot exceed 100% of the project’s costs.

The Manitoba Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit is a refundable tax credit available to taxable Canadian corporations. The credit is equal to 40% of eligible Manitoba labour for an eligible project, up to a maximum credit of $500,000 for each project. To qualify, at least 25% of total wages and salaries must be paid to employees who were Manitoba residents in the project period. However, amounts claimed under another Manitoba tax credit (e.g., Manitoba Film and Video Production Tax Credit), other than the co-op education and the apprenticeship tax credits, are not eligible.

PwC Comments

These changes will be welcomed by Manitoba digital media producers. They are intended to help the province's digital media industry remain competitive.

For more digital media incentives, see PwC's The Big Table of Digital Media and Animation Incentives.