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The Case for States to Offer Film-Tax Credits

By Thomas D. Selz

[Editor's Note: The tax credits that states have made available to attract film and TV productions have presented a challenging, changing landscape to producers, as individual states add or eliminate these credits, or adjust tax credits amounts that producers can obtain. The recent enactment of revisions to California's tax credit provisions has raised additional questions for producers. This article by Thomas D. Selz considers film-and-TV tax credits on a national basis and concludes with comments on the new California revisions. The article by Schuyler M. Moore in this issue focuses on the California changes.]

On Aug. 20, 2014, North Carolina, which had provided incentive payments of $61 million in 2013, voted to eliminate the 25% refundable tax credit for film-production shooting in the state. North Carolina House Speaker Pro Tem, Paul Stam was quoted in The Wall Street Journal as asking, “Why in the world should we be giving tax money to make movies?” By contrast, on Sept. 18, 2014, California passed and signed into law an expansion of its tax incentive film program, raising the annual available tax credits from $100 million to $330 million.

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