Incentives

In the context of Louisiana's Digital Interactive Media program, it's essentially an interactive software product (e.g. video game, training software, web platform, etc.) that's built for commercial export and not for the producer's internal use.

NO.  This is a performance based statutory incentive that provides tax credits for the development of eligible digital interactive media projects.

You can apply any certified tax credits to offset your Louisiana state income tax liability. Since the credits awarded in the Digital Interactive Media Program are refundable, the remainder of the credits are considered an overpayment and refunded to the applicant by the Department of Revenue. There is also an option to take the value of the credits as a one-time rebate (any time during the year) at 85% of their original value.

OEID has full-time staff members whose job it is to help companies through the process of applying for and receiving the Digital Interactive Media tax credit. We strive to continually improve the transparency and ease with which firms can apply and enter the program.

No, OEID will assign the CPA to complete an expenditure verification report.

Digital Interactive Media applicants' qualifying projects are awarded up to a 18% tax credit on qualified production expenses paid to a Louisiana entity/vendor, and labor costs (for Louisiana residents) are awarded up to an additional 7% (an effective 25% total awarded on labor costs paid to Louisiana residents).

Any qualified expenditures can receive the tax credit award of 18%, regardless of whether the labor is performed by Louisiana residents, so long as the work is done in the state of Louisiana. All labor must be verified to have been performed in Louisiana, and any work performed outside of the state would not qualify.

The simple answer is costs that are directly related to the project development itself. This includes items such as hardware and software, labor and lease costs — but not for costs associated with running the company (administrative, clerical, etc.) or marketing/distributing the product.

Equipment such as computer hardware and software purchased from a Louisiana business for the direct development of the product is considered eligible. Furniture and fixtures do not qualify for the program.

The Office of Entertainment Industry Development is a division of the Louisiana Department of Economic Development. For ease of reading, this website may commonly refer to these entities as the Office, OEID, Louisiana Entertainment or LED.

An expenditure paid to a Louisiana company that has an active registration with the Louisiana Secretary of State and has a physical presence in the state, posted business hours and at least one full-time employee.

For the Digital Interactive Media Program, there is no minimum spend required.

There isn't a maximum amount of tax credits that a project or company can earn, nor is there a cap on the program as a whole.

OEID has many business incentives, some of which may be combined with the Digital Interactive Media Incentive. OEID does not allow the same dollar spent to earn credits under multiple programs. Staff can work with your firm to see what you might be eligible for.

A specific exclusion in the Digital Media Program prohibits a firm from taking advantage of both the additional Digital Media Incentive as well as LED's Quality Jobs program for the same employee. However, a firm may have some employees enrolled in the Quality Jobs program, while others are claimed under the Digital Media incentive.

An applicant can apply before beginning production or expending funds in Louisiana.

The FastLane Help Center is the best place for a user to go to find answers to typically asked questions when it comes to the FNG system.

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Payments made to employees with an H-1B temporary visa or independent contractors issued 1099 tax forms are not eligible for the additional resident payroll credit.

Under the law, a company can claim their first expenditure on a project up to six months prior to the date the application was received for the program.

.005 x proposed tax benefit with a minimum fee of $500 and a maximum fee of $15,000. Prior to the issuance of the initial certification letter, an expenditure verification report deposit shall be submitted accordingly to the following schedule:

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NO. An applicant to the Digital Interactive Media Program is not obligated to expend funds in the state — even after an application has been pre-certified.

As soon as we've had a chance to review and clear up any outstanding issues in the application (which we strive to complete as quickly as possible), we will then send the applicant a Initial Certification Letter that acknowledges OEID gets a project's applicable expenditures of those proposed in the application.