AJC: Film, TV tax credit House bill, if passed, would be biggest changes since 2008

by Rodney Ho of the AJC

The film and TV tax credit in Georgia that passed in 2008 was so generous it drew all major media companies to the state to shoot hundreds of films, scripted TV series, game shows and reality series.

Over 16 years, Netflix, Apple TV+, Amazon and Lionsgate, to name a few, have spent more than $23 billion in the state while pocketing more than $5.5 billion in tax credits. Tens of thousands of jobs have been created….

The bill also caps the amount of tax credits that can be transferred to another party any given year. The proposed limit is 2.5% of the state budget. If such a cap were placed on the current estimated $37.5 billion state budget for the fiscal year ending June 30, that would equal $937.5 million.

This is important because most TV and film companies are based in California and New York and have few, if any, state tax obligations. So through a tax broker, they can sell those credits to, say, Atlanta-based companies such as Home Depot or Delta Air Lines, who can then buy those credits at a discount and defray the cost of their own tax load in the state… See the full article here.