CAST & CREW ENTERTAINMENT SERVICES

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2016

In this Issue

PROPOSED LEGISLATION

Kentucky (BR 436)
Indiana (S 125)
Missouri (H 1645)
New Hampshire
(H 1360)
New Jersey
(A 2474 & S 779)

MISCELLANEOUS

California
Pennsylvania

IN THE NEWS

Section 181
Georgia - Country
Morocco

QUICK LINKS

Archived TIP Newsletters

PROPOSED LEGISLATION

Still in the House or Senate

Kentucky (BR 436)

Bill Request 436 proposes to amend the film production program by including all counties in the Appalachian region in the definition of an enhanced incentive county. Productions filming entirely within an enhanced incentive county are eligible to earn 35% on qualified expenditures.

Indiana (S 125)

Senate Bill 125 proposes to reinstate the film production incentive program in Indiana. Highlights of the program are as follows:

For productions with qualified spend of less than $6 million the program provides a refundable tax credit equal to:

40% of qualified production expenditures paid to an individual or entity located in a municipality or county in which either:

25% of the households are below the poverty level as established by the most recent United States decennial census; or,

Has an unemployment rate which is 1.5 times greater than the statewide average over the most recent 18 month period for which data is available;

35% of qualified production expenditures incurred in areas not described above;

For productions with qualified spend of $6 million or more the program provides for a refundable tax credit of not more than 15% on qualified expenditures;
Allows above-the-line and below-the-line resident labor as qualifying expenditures;
Allows below-the-line nonresident labor as qualifying expenditures when taxes are assessed or imposed by the state;
Creates a $2.5 million state funding cap for each fiscal year (July 1-June 30) without a per project cap;
Requires a minimum spend of $50,000 in qualified expenditures;
Productions with $6 million or more in qualifying expenditures are evaluated based on economic viability and impact;
Requires any corporation or nonresident person to file Indiana income tax returns for at least the first 5 years that they have income from the production for which the tax credit is granted;
Allows the state to recapture any credits if the taxpayer is non-compliant with the terms of the program;
Establishes an effective date of January 1, 2017; and,
Creates a sunset date of December 31, 2019.

Missouri (H 1645)

House Bill 1645 proposes to reinstate the film production incentive program in Missouri for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2016. Highlights of the program are as follows:

Establishes a transferable tax credit equal to:

20% of qualifying in-state spend,

20% of compensation for each resident or nonresident if:

Their compensation is $250k or less, and

Missouri state withholding payments are remitted to the Department of Revenue;

Allows for an additional 5% credit to be earned on both qualifying in-state spend, and resident and nonresident labor if at least 50% of the production is filmed in Missouri;
Establishes a funding cap of $4.5 million per calendar year but does not impose a per project cap;
Requires a minimum spend of:

More than $50k for productions that are less than thirty minutes in duration, and

More than $100k for productions that are more than thirty minutes in duration;

Requires a logo or screen credit acknowledging that the project was filmed in the state; and,
Establishes a sunset date of August 27, 2022.

New Hampshire (H 1360)

House Bill 1360 proposes to create a new film production incentive program in New Hampshire. Highlights of the program are as follows:

Establishes a transferable tax credit equal to:

12.5% of the total aggregate payroll provided a minimum in-state spend of $25,000 is met, plus,

12.5% of all qualified production expenditures if:

At least 50% of total photography days take place in-state;

New Hampshire production expenditures exceed 50% of the total production expenditures; or,

More than $100,000 in eligible New Hampshire expenses are incurred;

Allows the first $2 million of compensation (including all per diems, housing, and other allowances) paid to each individual resident and nonresident for services provided in New Hampshire to qualify;
Establishes a funding cap of $10 million per fiscal year (July 1 - June 30);
Requires a nonrefundable application fee of $100;
Requires eligible production company to commence work in the state within 90 days of the date of agreement;
Requires a logo and screen credit acknowledging the motion picture was filmed in the state;
Requires an independent certification be provided by an audit professional chosen from a list compiled by the department;
Allows non-New Hampshire production expenses to qualify if they are not otherwise available within the state;
Establishes an effective date of July 1, 2016;

However, productions that began principal photography after December 31, 2015 may be eligible for the program if all other requirements are satisfied; and,

Establishes a sunset date of June 30, 2020.

New Jersey (A 2474 & S 779)

Assembly Bill 2474 and Senate Bill 779, which were introduced in February 2014, have been amended. The bills re-establish the film production tax credit program. The highlights below are in addition to the previous amendment reported in our November 20, 2015 newsletter:

Allows for the tax credit to be carried forward for up to 7 years;
Limits the application of the tax credit so that credits allowed against the tax cannot exceed 50% of the tax liability due and may not reduce the tax liability to an amount less than the statutory minimum;
Mandates that tax credits may not be sold or transferred at less than 75 cents on the dollar; and,
Requires a CPA audit.

MISCELLANEOUS

California

The California Film and TV Tax Credit Program 2.0's upcoming application window for Feature Films (Non-transferable tax credit) and Independent Projects (Transferable tax credit) is January 11 - January 24, 2016.

The on-line application portal will go live Monday, January 11th at 8:00 a.m. PST.

Applications are ranked within categories based upon their "jobs ratio" score. Projects that rank in the top 200% (double the number of projects for which funding is available) will be notified by January 26th to submit Phase II documents.

For details click here.

Pennsylvania

Governor Tom Wolf signed off on a partial budget that has triggered the release of approval letters for the film and television tax credit program for 2015-2016.