Matt Damon’s The Last Duel was one of the big winners in securing movie tax relief from the Revenue Commissioners last year.
That is according to new figures from the Revenue Commissioners which show that the amount of tax relief under section 481 of the Taxes Consolidation Act granted to Metropolitan Films International Ltd for the critically acclaimed The Last Duel was between €10m and €30m last year.
The Revenue Commissioners confirmed today that the value of payments to qualifying firms under the film corporation tax credit in 2021 was €137.1 million and this followed the value of payments totalling €138.7m in 2020.
These payments are a combination of first stage 90 per cent credit claims which can be made in advance of or during the making of the film project, and balancing payments which can be claimed after a project is completed.
A Revenue spokeswoman further explained that “the total value in each year represents this mix of payments (90 per cent and balancing) for films certified from 2015 to 2021”.
Damon was in Ireland during lockdown for the Covid-19 interrupted filming of the Ridley Scott directed historical drama, The Last Duel and images of the Hollywood actor with his Supervalu shopping bag while out in Dalkey provided some comic relief during the first lockdown.
The blockbuster - currently streaming on Disney + - had a star-studded cast with Damon, Adam Driver, Jodie Comer, and Ben Affleck starring but after struggling at the box office, director Ridley Scott put it down to smartphones.
Tax relief
In a recent interview, Scott said: “I think what it boils down to--what we've got today [are] the audience who were brought up on these f***ing cellphones.The millennian, [who] do not ever want to be taught anything unless you told it on the cellphone."
The only other production to receive between €10m and €30m in tax relief from Revenue last year was Disney’s Disenchanted.
Metropolitan Films International Ltd also received the movie tax relief in this case for the production starring Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey which is due for release later this year.
The figures also show that the eagerly anticipated TV adaptation of Sally Rooney’s Conversation with Friends secured tax relief of between €1m and €2m.
The relief was granted to Element Pictures Productions Ltd and the Lenny Abrahamson directed 12 part series is due to be broadcast by the BBC in the coming months.
The Revenues figures also show that the five time Oscar nominated Cartoon Saloon Ltd last year secured €5m to €10m for the firm’s My Father’s Dragon.
The production is being directed by Nora Twomey and is to be shown on Netflix.
Element Pictures also secured movie tax relief of between €1m and €2m for The Dry, a comedy drama series starring Ciarán Hinds, set in Dublin.
In a busy year for Brown Bag Films, the company secured movie tax relief ranging from €1m to €2m for four separate productions - Vampirina Series Two; Ridley Jones Series One, Ada Twist and Karma’s World.
The figures also show that Metropolitan International Ltd last year secured €2m to €5m for RTE ratings winner, KIN.
For the first nine months of last year, Revenues granted 68 applications for Section 481 Movie and TV tax relief and this compares to 87 for 2020 and 102 for 2019.
