by Dave Williams | Feb 16, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia legislative leaders’ pledge to rein in some of the state’s generous tax breaks to industry is starting with the most expensive on the books: the film tax credit.
A bill introduced in the Georgia House of Representatives earlier this month would require film production companies to meet at least four of nine criteria to qualify for an additional 10% tax credit on top of the 20% base credit the General Assembly enacted in 2008. House Bill 1180 also would raise the minimum companies would have to spend to earn the credit, and put new limits on the selling of credits.
“Our film tax credit has been very, very successful for Georgia,” House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, said Feb. 7 during a news conference unveiling the bill. “We want to make sure that we streamline our tax credit so we continue to get the absolute best return on that investment.”
The film tax credit is widely credited with making Georgia one of the top movie and television production states in the nation. The existence of the credit generated $8.55 billion in economic impact in fiscal 2022, according to a study released late last year.
“What we have created here in Georgia is more extraordinary than you may realize,” independent filmmaker Tiffany FitzHenry of Peachtree City told members of the House Economic Development & Tourism Committee Feb. 13.
“We have the largest, most skilled crew base in the world, infrastructure and technology that is second to none, more stages, camera-ready communities and a bigger footprint for production than anywhere on the planet,” FitzHenry said.
If changes become law, Fayette County likely would immediately feel the impact, given that Fayetteville is home to one of the world’s largest filmmaking campuses at Trilith Studios.
At the same time, the film tax credit is costing Georgia taxpayers about $1 billion a year in lost tax revenue, making it…
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