A cap on Georgia’s movie and tv manufacturing tax credit score appears a lot totally different now within the newest model of a invoice that’s handed from the Home to the Senate.
The annual restrict on tax credit score transfers, the prospect of which gave the leisure trade some agita, was truly lowered to 2.3% of the state finances (about $830 million at present ranges) within the newest Senate model, from 2.5% ($900 million) within the Home. Nevertheless, the Senate Finance Committee inserted some main exemptions that make the cap virtually meaningless.
Primarily, productions shot on the largest Georgia studios wouldn’t depend in direction of the cap. Large, in response to the invoice, means both $100 million in funding by 2023 to 2027, or a footprint of a minimum of 1.5 million sq. toes of stage area. So, no worries for productions at Trilith and handful of different giant studio complexes dwelling to to Marvel and massive franchises. Smaller sound stage house owners usually are not exempt until they’re in rural areas exterior the Atlanta metro space. However there’s much more room. With the revised invoice exempting a whole bunch of tens of millions price of eligible tax credit from the cap, there virtually isn’t one, as some lawmakers famous at a committee listening to this night.
The invoice could be modified by the Guidelines Committee — if it will get on the Monday schedule. If it doesn’t, it dies because the legislature is nearly on the finish of its session. If it does move by Guidelines to the Senate ground, it must return to the Home and so forth, and all the backwards and forwards would should be achieved by subsequent Thursday. So this invoice is significantly better for movie and TV manufacturing than the unique, however there could also be no invoice in any respect, which might be even higher but for the trade.
Committee chair Chuck Hufstetler had not seen the invoice till the listening to and “appeared very visibly sad about that,” stated one one who was there, which might not be a great signal.
A beneficiant tax credit score regime has made Georgia a significant movie and tv manufacturing hub, one of many three largest on this planet. A stricter auditing course of applied a number of years in the past made claiming the tax credit a bit extra sophisticated, however they nonetheless price the state a whole bunch of tens of millions a yr. This invoice, Home Invoice 1180, was an attemp to make the annual hit extra predictable.
The cap it envisions is just for tax credit which are transferred, or offered, that are the good majority of the entire earned. Hollywood studios and different non-Georgia taxpayers can’t use the tax credit in order that they promote them for a reduction in what has turn into a thriving market. In flip, manufacturing contributes considerably to the Georgia economic system and jobs.
The invoice additionally wasn’t a flat cap, extra of a restrict, because it allowed credit over the cap one yr to roll into the subsequent. Nevertheless, as critics have famous, it did create some uncertainty.
