Salma Hayek Pinault joined Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on stage in Mexico City on Sunday to lend her weight to the launch of a new support plan for cinema in her native Mexico which includes a 30% income tax incentive.
The Oscar-nominated actress, producer and director paid tribute to Mexican cinema and welcomed the new package of support and incentives.
“I owe my career to the Mexican film community. It was a great honor to stand alongside this same community today and announce this incredible new initiative,” said the star.
Prior to building her Hollywood career, the Coatzacoalcos-born Eternals actress started out in Mexican telenovelas, before breaking out internationally in Robert Rodriguez’s Mexico-set and shot neo-western Desperado, with highlights since including her Oscar-nominated performance as Mexican painter Frida Kalho in Frida.
A cornerstone of the new plan – also encompassing training, production, exhibition and preservation – is a new 30% Income Tax (ISR) incentive for projects carried out within Mexican territory.
Coordinated with the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público, SHCP), the measure seeks to strengthen film and audiovisual production in the country and officially comes into force today.
The Minister of Culture, Claudia Curiel de Icaza, explained that the incentive amounts to up to 30 percent of the income tax corresponding to the project’s expenditures incurred within the territory.
There is a maximum cap of 40 million pesos ($2.3M) per project or process. A key requirement is that projects must include at least 70 percent domestic suppliers.
Curiel de Icaza said the aim was to attract high-value international productions while ensuring that national productions remain in Mexico, thereby strengthening the country’s creative economy, cultural sovereignty, and the diversity of stories produced from Mexican territory.
She explained that the incentive will be available to Mexican individuals and legal entities; foreign individuals and entities with a permanent establishment in the country; and foreign individuals and entities without a permanent establishment in Mexico, who carry outproduction through a Mexican resident individual or legal entity.
Eligible projects include fiction or animated feature films and series episodes with a minimum verifiable expenditure of 40 million pesos ($2.3M); documentary feature films and series with a minimum expenditure of 20 million pesos ($1.1M); as well as specific animation, visual effects, or post-production processes with a minimum expenditure of 5 million pesos ($291k) per process.
“Mexico has a long and distinguished cinematic legacy and a film industry that is truly world-class, home to some of the most talented and creative artists and technicians I have ever had the privilege of working with,” said Hayek Pinault.
“I’m excited that this incentive will help shine an even brighter light on all of this and continue to strengthen and grow this extraordinary film community. Thank you, President Sheinbaum, for having me and for letting me be a part of this historic moment. Viva México.”
