Step 13 – MAR – Comisión Fílmica de Colombia

Step 13

Required certifications

Application stage: Acreditación del proyecto FFC

01.

02.

03.

04.

Application

Approval

Project accreditation

Disbursement of the consideration

(Select the step you want to know about)

To validate compliance and enable payment of the consideration, the producer must submit the following documents:

Request for payment of the consideration, indicating the expenses incurred in the country and the consideration requested.
Certification from the trust confirming that the funds originated abroad, when they arrived in the country, and how they were invested in permitted items. This does not apply to Colombian projects.
Certification from the external auditor, hired by the producer, validating the legality of the invoices and documents, and compliance with the social security obligations of Colombian personnel.
Certification from the Colombian film services company confirming that the producer made all payments reported by the trust company.
Certification of compliance with the requirements of the auditing firm.

Find the official forms here:

Annexes, FFC, accreditation documents

Agreed procedures for the auditing firm

Remember that...

The requirements for the external auditor are:

More than ten (10) years of auditing experience
Proven experience with large taxpayers
Current registration with the Central Board of Accountants with a record no older than thirty (30) days

☞ Expenses associated with the trust, audit, and direct depositor are not covered by the FFC consideration, but may be included in the initial budget as part of the overall project costs.

Frequently asked questions

When can the FFC compensation be requested?
Once the minimum expenditure in Colombia has been credited and all the required certifications have been submitted.

Are equivalent documents accepted or only invoices?
Yes, equivalent documents are accepted only from Colombian individuals under the simplified regime who work as artistic or technical personnel or in scriptwriting and editing. For all other services, an invoice is mandatory.

What does the MAR say about this?

Article 18. Accreditations. Once the budget of expenditure in the country has been executed, the producer may request the Management Entity to disburse the FFC’s Cash Rebate, upon accreditation of the following:

18.1. Request for the disbursement of the cash rebate addressed to the Management Entity, indicating the amount actually spent in the country and the value of the FFC’s Cash Rebate requested.

18.2. Certification issued by the trust entity, stating the date of entry of the resources provided for in the Colombia Filming Contract and their expenditure on the items of the budget of expenditure in the country subject to cash rebate, with the following characteristics:

18.2.1. The invoice numbers, identification of equivalent tax documents, their issuers, issuance dates, and payment dates must be detailed in the certification.

18.2.2. Expenses on audiovisual services accredited through equivalent tax documents will be accepted only if the issuer is a Colombian individual under the simplified regime and corresponds to artistic or technical personnel positions, or in the case of work related to script writing or correction.

18.2.3. All other audiovisual services or logistical audiovisual services must be invoiced. The accreditations (invoices or equivalent tax documents, as the case may be) cannot have a date prior to the constitution of the trust.

18.2.4. In the case of general payments to film services companies, these must be invoiced. In this event, it is the producer’s obligation to present to the Management Entity a detailed list of each of the audiovisual services and logistical audiovisual services, audited in accordance with the following provision. The Management Entity may request information from the trust entity or the producer regarding the details of the expenditures.

18.3. Concept, certification, or report issued by the external auditor engaged by the producer, addressing the requirements of previously agreed procedures indicated by the Management Entity, and including at least the following aspects:

18.3.1. Compliance with all the aspects indicated in the previous provision, except for the payment dates made by the trust entity.

18.3.2. That the invoices or equivalent tax documents supporting the trust certification meet the legally required criteria.

18.3.3. Compliance with obligations derived from the Integral Social Security System for the assigned Colombian personnel.

18.4. For foreign audiovisual works, a certification issued by the film services company, manifesting: (a) which of the expenditures certified by the trust entity were made through said company, and (b) whether the applying producer made all the payments corresponding to the project. The cash rebate may not be disbursed until such payments have been made.

The same is required for cases in which the producer of Colombian works has used this type of service or if it is done regarding logistical audiovisual services. Paragraph. The request for the disbursement of the FFC’s Cash Rebate, along with all the certifications described in this article, must be submitted to the Management Entity within a maximum period of three (3) months from the expiration of the deadline for making the expenditure in the country, as established in this Manual.

If this deadline expires without the submission of all the accreditations, it will be understood that the producer has waived the FFC’s Cash Rebate, and consequently, this amount will be released for other projects.