Terms Of Netflix Tax Breaks Unveiled For Their Massive NJ Film Studio

EATONTOWN, NJ — This week, the state of New Jersey unveiled the full extent of the tax breaks Netflix will get once they open their planned film studio campus in Eatontown (anticipated opening date is 2028).

Netflix will be given access to a $150-million pool of tax incentives, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority announced Wednesday. As long as Netflix keeps their Fort Monmouth production campus open for at least 10 years, they will be eligible for a 40-percent base tax credit for all future movie or TV shows they make in New Jersey.

This allows a film company to add additional above-the-line salaries and wages as part of its tax credits. From the state of New Jersey, here is exactly how it works:

• For a studio partner that incurs $15 million but less than $50 million in qualified film production expenses, they can include up to $18 million in Above-the-line (ATL) wage and salary expenses on its taxes to the state.

• For a studio partner that incurs $50 million or more in qualified film production expenses, they can include up to $72 million in Above-the-line (ATL) wage and salary expenses.

The terms of the deal require Netflix keep their Fort Monmouth campus open for 10 years.

New Jersey is giving Netflix such big tax breaks because Gov. Phil Murphy said Netflix will bring in thousands of jobs.

"We sought to create incentives that would encourage studios to make a long-term commitment to our state,” said state Senator Vin Gopal, the Democratic lawmaker who represents this part of Monmouth County.

“I want to thank Gov. Murphy and his administration for their steadfast commitment to bringing this project to fruition,” said Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos Wednesday as the terms of the tax breaks were unveiled. “Today takes us one step closer to making New Jersey an international center for studio production."

In January 2023, Netflix agreed to purchase 292 acres at the former Fort Monmouth U.S. Army base in Eatontown. Netflix plans to build its largest film studio in the world there, and construct more than one million square feet of studio production and support space.

Netflix plans to open the full facility in 2028.

In 2018, Gov. Murphy reinstated New Jersey's Film and Digital Media Tax Credit program, which provides a tax credit of up to 35 percent of production expenses, including a Diversity Tax Credit of up to four percent for productions that employ the services of women or people of color.

Since then, movie and TV filming in New Jersey has surged.