Film and Commercial Production Incentives in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and Ontario (2026)

If you are shooting a commercial or branded content in the Great Lakes region in 2026, Illinois is the only jurisdiction where a typical spot can realistically earn a tax credit. It pays 35% and starts at $50,000 of in-state spending for projects under 30 minutes. Ohio’s 30% credit covers commercials but only above $300,000 of Ohio spending. Indiana offers a small, discretionary credit. Ontario and the federal Canadian programs exclude advertising entirely, and Michigan has had no incentive since 2015.

What follows is each program’s rate, minimum, caps, payout rules and application timing, checked against government sources on October 10, 2026, along with what a brand, agency or producer can and cannot claim on short-form work.

The comparison at a glance

The federal Canadian credits stack with Ontario’s and are covered in their own section below.

Michigan: no incentive, and the bills have not moved

Michigan’s film incentive ended in July 2015, when House Bill 4122 was signed on July 9 and filed the next day as Public Act 117 of 2015, with immediate effect. Our Michigan film incentives tracker covers that history and the 2026 bills in detail.

The short version for this comparison: House Bills 5991 and 5992 were introduced on May 19, 2026 and referred to the House Committee on Government Operations. When we checked the Legislature’s bill histories for HB 5991 and HB 5992 on October 10, 2026, the last entry on each was the May 20 electronic reproduction of the bill. No hearing, committee vote or floor vote is recorded.

The bills are worth watching because they are written with brand work in mind. The introduced text of HB 5991 lists advertising commercials, commercial photography and web-based content as qualified productions. It proposes a base credit of 25% of qualified production expenditures, or 30% with approved Michigan logos. Short productions and commercial still images fall in its Tier A, where the state office would consider whether a project expects to spend at least $50,000 in Michigan. The credit would not be refundable, but it could be assigned to up to 10 assignees and carried forward five years. None of that is law. Budget a Michigan shoot today with no state money.

Ohio: commercials qualify, but the floor is high

Ohio’s credit is set by Ohio Revised Code 122.85, in the version effective September 30, 2025. It equals 30% of eligible Ohio production expenditures, figured on the lesser of the budgeted or actual amount. No credit is allowed if eligible spending is $300,000 or less. Statewide, the credit is limited to $50 million per fiscal year plus unused amounts from the prior year, and $5 million of that is reserved for Broadway theatrical productions.

The statute’s definition of a motion picture names commercials, music videos, video games and interactive websites as eligible content. It also excludes several categories that matter to brands:

• a long-form production that primarily markets a product or service
• in-house corporate advertising
• productions whose sole purpose is fundraising
• political advocacy
• productions featuring current events or sporting events, and awards shows or galas

In practice, a 30- or 60-second national spot qualifies on paper, while an infomercial or an internal corporate video does not. The harder question is scale. Few regional commercials spend $300,000 in Ohio alone.

Timing is where producers lose money. The Ohio Department of Development’s FAQ says applications are accepted any time and approved on a rolling basis, but expenditures made before the project receives its award letter do not qualify. The production company must be registered to do business in Ohio. After approval, the state invoices a nonrefundable fee of 1% of the estimated credit, up to $10,000, due within 45 days. Under the statute, production must begin within 90 days of certification unless the company shows good cause. The credit itself is refundable and is issued only after the project is complete and an independent CPA audit is submitted.

The department’s February 2026 award announcement shows the program is active: seven projects, all feature films, miniseries or a documentary, shared more than $3 million.

Illinois: the realistic option for commercials

The Illinois Department of Commerce’s film tax credit page says the General Assembly expanded the credit in 2025 through Senate Bill 1911. The current terms:

• 35% of qualified Illinois spending on vendors, goods and services
• 35% of Illinois resident wages, up to $500,000 per worker
• 30% of nonresident wages up to $500,000 per worker, for up to 13 nonresident employees other than actors, plus four to six nonresident actors depending on Illinois spend
• an extra 15% on wages paid to people living in areas with unemployment at least 150% of the state average
• an extra 5% on resident wages for filming outside Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties
• an extra 5% for a certified green production

The department’s FAQ sets the minimum spend at $50,000 for productions under 30 minutes and $100,000 for productions 30 minutes or longer. It says there is no cap on what one applicant can earn and no cap on the program. There is no application fee, but credits issued on or after July 1, 2024 carry a fee of 2.5% of the portion tied to nonresident wages and 0.25% of the rest.

Commercials are plainly in scope. The application page has a separate deadline for commercial advertising: at least 24 hours before filming starts in Illinois, compared with five business days for film and television. Commercial applications must include storyboards. Expenses from the final script stage through post-production count, including some incurred before the accreditation certificate arrives.

The credit offsets Illinois income tax and can be carried forward five years. It is not paid out as cash, but it can be sold: the recipient may transfer it within one year of issuance to up to 10 transferees. The claim, backed by an Illinois-licensed CPA approved by the film office before the engagement starts, is due within two years of the last qualified expenditure. One more cost for out-of-state crew: the department notes that Illinois requires 4.95% income tax withholding on compensation paid on or after December 12, 2025.

The department’s main page says the credit is scheduled for legislative renewal in 2039. Its FAQ page still says 2038. Either way, it is stable for the near term.

Indiana: a small credit, decided case by case

Indiana does have a film incentive in 2026, though it is modest. The Indiana Economic Development Corporation describes an income tax credit of up to 30% of qualified production expenses: a 20% base, 5% more for hiring local talent and 5% more when the final project includes Indiana branding. The IEDC says it considers only projects it expects to produce a positive return for the state, and projects must be completed within two years of approval.

The law behind it, IC 6-3.1-36, was created by Senate Enrolled Act 361 of 2022. It defines a qualified media production as a feature film or documentary, a television series or program, a music production, “a digital media production that is intended for reasonable commercial exploitation,” or any similar production the IEDC accepts. Commercials are not named. Whether a spot or a branded web series qualifies is up to the IEDC, so ask before you plan around it.

Senate Enrolled Act 306, signed April 16, 2025, changed the limits. Any single credit is capped at $250,000. All credits awarded before the program expires may not exceed $2 million in total. The expiration date moved from July 1, 2027 to July 1, 2031. Starting with tax years after December 31, 2025, a company may assign part of its credit once. The credit is not refundable; it can be used only against Indiana income or financial institutions tax and carried forward nine years. We found no 2026 bill that changed these terms.

Ontario: large credits, but not for advertising

Windsor sits across the river from downtown Detroit, and Ontario offers three refundable production credits. None of them covers commercials.

OPSTC. The Ontario Production Services Tax Credit pays 21.5% of qualifying production expenditures in Ontario, with no per-project or annual corporate limit. Foreign-owned corporations can claim it if they have a permanent establishment in Ontario and file an Ontario corporate return. A production must cost more than C$1 million, or for a series, more than C$100,000 per episode under 30 minutes and C$200,000 for longer episodes. Online-only productions have qualified since November 1, 2022. Applicants can apply to Ontario Creates as early as the first day of principal photography. The administration fee is 0.15% of eligible expenditures, between C$5,000 and C$15,000.

OFTTC. The Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit pays 35% of eligible Ontario labour, 40% on the first C$240,000 for first-time producers, and an extra 10% for productions shot mostly outside the Greater Toronto Area. It requires a Canadian-controlled corporation, an Ontario-resident producer and six Canadian content points, so a US brand or agency cannot use it directly.

OCASE. The Ontario Computer Animation and Special Effects credit pays 18% of eligible Ontario labour on animation and visual effects work, with no cap. The company can be foreign-owned but must be a Canadian corporation doing the work at an Ontario establishment. Since March 26, 2024, each production needs at least C$25,000 of Ontario labour, music videos are excluded, and claims are filed after the company’s fiscal year ends.

What commercials can claim. Ontario Creates lists advertising, and productions made primarily for industrial, corporate or institutional purposes, as excluded genres for all three credits. For the OPSTC it applies the federal definition in CAVCO Public Notice 2017-03. That notice treats a production as advertising if it is a commercial or infomercial, includes a call to action to buy a good or service, promotes broadcast schedules, or devotes more than 15% of its running time to promoting products, services or organizations or showing brand identifiers. A brand-funded series can still qualify if it clears those tests, since the notice says sponsorship alone is not decisive and sponsors may not hold final creative control. A 30-second spot cannot.

Federal Canada: CPTC and PSTC

Ontario’s credits stack with federal ones, administered by the Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office (CAVCO) and the Canada Revenue Agency.

The Film or Video Production Services Tax Credit (PSTC) is the one foreign productions use. It pays 16% of qualified Canadian labour expenditures and is refundable. The claimant must be a taxable Canadian corporation or a foreign-owned corporation whose business is primarily film or video production carried on through a permanent establishment in Canada. The minimums match Ontario’s: more than C$1 million, or C$100,000 and C$200,000 per episode for series. The copyright owner can apply to CAVCO once the budget is locked, and an accreditation certificate is needed before the tax claim.

The Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit (CPTC) pays 25% of qualified labour, capped at 60% of production cost net of assistance, for a maximum of 15% of that cost. It requires a Canadian-controlled company and at least six Canadian key creative points, so a US company cannot claim it directly.

Both federal credits list advertising as an excluded genre, under the same 2017 definition. A production can claim the PSTC or the CPTC, not both.

How to read these numbers for brand work

Most of these programs were built for features and television, and their thresholds show it. A few practical points before you move a shoot for an incentive:

• The minimum decides more than the rate. Ohio’s 30% means nothing to a regional spot that spends $300,000 or less in Ohio. Illinois’s $50,000 floor is the only one in the region that most commercials clear.
• Only in-state spending counts. A Chicago shoot with a Detroit edit earns Illinois credit on the Chicago portion only.
• Apply before you spend. Ohio will not count anything spent before its award letter. Illinois needs commercial applications 24 hours ahead. Missing either step means no credit, no matter the budget.
• Credits arrive late. Every program here pays out after an audit, a certificate or a tax filing, not at wrap. Plan cash flow without it.
• Overhead eats small credits. CPA audits, administration fees and payroll setup cost the same whether the credit is large or small. On a project near the minimum, ask an accountant whether the net is worth it.

How we plan budgets for shoots in Michigan and nearby

Our crew travels from our Detroit studio and works with contacts across the region. Our crews travel to Toledo, Cleveland, Columbus, Chicago and Windsor, and every out-of-state quote is built from the location’s actual costs, not an assumed credit.

When a client is comparing states, we price the shoot with no incentive first. If an Illinois or Ohio credit is realistic, we flag the application deadline, the spend that has to stay in-state and who on the production will own the claim, then show the incentive as a separate line the client can verify with its accountant. For Michigan work, our video production team and camera crews budget on today’s rules, and the Michigan incentives tracker is where we will post any change in Lansing. If you are deciding where to shoot, send us the brief.