NEWS
Posted 7 June, 2010 in FL News
The new transferable tax credit program begins July 1, 2010 and the film office will accept application beginning on June 9th no earlier than 12:00pm EST. Program details and materials are now available on the Film In Florida web site.
Posted 3 May, 2010 in FL News
Today, the Florida legislature passed a comprehensive jobs bill containing enhancements to the film incentive program and it is now headed to the Governor for signature. This incentive is administered on a first-come first-served basis. A production company may earn a transferable tax credit equal to 20% of qualified expenditures plus an additional 5% for productions that film 75% or more of its principle photography days from June 1 through November 30 (off-season). An additional 5% of qualified spend may be earned if the script is “family friendly” (suitable for viewing by children 5 and older and does not exhibit or imply any act of smoking, sex, nudity, or vulgar or profane language). There is a per project cap of $8 million. (One season of a television series is considered one production.) Requirements include spending more than $625,000 for a motion picture or a high impact television series (per eps for TV), being certified before the first day of principal photography, start principal photography within 180 days of submitting application, and seeing that 50% or more of the positions that make up the cast and below-the-line production crew be Florida residents (this requirement increases to 60% beginning in the 2013 – 2014 fiscal year). The first $400,000 of each resident’s wage and other instate spend incurred with Florida vendors will qualify for the incentive. Credits may be used against sales and use tax liabilities and corporate income tax liabilities, however, the credits may not be claimed for any tax period beginning before July 1, 2011, regardless of when the credits are applied for or awarded. Beginning July 1, 2011, the production company or any transferee may relinquish the credit to the Department of Revenue for 90% of the face value of the credit. The annual cap for each fiscal year is as follows: $53.5 million for 2010-2011; $74.5 million for 2011- 2012; $38 million for 2012-2013, 2013-2014 and 2014-20015. Tax credits purchased in good faith are not subject to forfeiture. Guidelines and applications will be available May 21 at www.filminflorida.com and the anticipated date for accepting new applications is at noon on June 7, 2010. This program is scheduled to sunset on July 1, 2015.
Posted 7 March, 2010 in FL News
FLORIDA – There were 69 applications filed during the fiscal year that ended on June 20, 2009 and 29 projects were funded, with a production spend of about $55.3 million in qualified state expenditures. The remainder of the $10.8 million provided for the current fiscal year has been allocated. However, funds could become available again if projects drop out of the queue. There is legislation in draft form to change to a transferable credit, which would make more money available, but no action will be taken before March 2010 when the legislature reconvenes.
Posted 1 February, 2010 in FL News
The proposed bill would create a 20% transferable tax credit (plus an additional 5% for filming 75% of principal photography days during the off-season, 6/1 – 11/30, plus an additional 5% for family-friendly productions) to replace the current rebate program. The tax credits may be claimed against income tax and/or sales & use tax liabilities. However, the tax credits may not be applied, regardless of when the credits are awarded, to returns filed for any tax period beginning before July 1, 2011. The cap on qualified labor would be increased from $400,000 to $650,000 per Florida resident hired. In order to be considered a qualified production: for the first two years, 50% or more, and thereafter, 60% or more of the positions that make up the production cast and below-the-line production crew must be filled by legal Florida residents. An annual allocation of $75 million will be available with no per project cap should the new bill be enacted. Tax credits purchased in good faith are not subject to forfeiture unless the transferee submitted fraudulent information in the purchase or failed to meet certain other requirements. The proposed program would sunset on July 1, 2015.
http://www.chipleypaper.com/news/margin-5293-0in-left.html
Posted 22 January, 2010 in FL News
http://www.taxfoundation.org/files/sr173.pdf
Posted 22 January, 2010 in FL News
http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/2010/01/lawmakers-push-for-expanded-flim-tax-credit.html
Posted 20 August, 2009 in FL News
BY DOUGLAS HANKS
dhanks@MiamiHerald.com
Teriyaki wings and state film subsidies rarely go together, unless you’re in the prepared-food line waiting for Burn Notice to get its lunch.
That happened to me recently after I ducked into the Coconut Grove Fresh Market for a quick bite.
Before I could grab a number by the counter, a familiar woman got her ticket first. I recognized her from a story I did last year on Burn Notice, the hit cable series filming next door in the abandoned Coconut Grove Convention Center.
The bad news for me: She was the set’s caterer, there to fill up on lunch for a cast and crew topping 100.
Not only did I have to wait for Burn Notice’s order. I was paying for some of it, too — along with the rest of Florida’s taxpayers.
Burn Notice should receive about $4 million this year in state production subsidies to cover up to 20 percent of local expenses — including groceries.
This Fresh Market scene captured a nationwide debate as states rethink the cash they offered Hollywood in boom times.
Florida cut its film subsidies from a peak of $25 million in 2007 to just $5 million last year. But in a remarkable sign of the film industry’s appeal as an economic engine, lawmakers actually doubled production incentives to $10 million this year — even while cutting Florida’s budget by $3 billion.
”The entertainment industry is one of America’s last major exporters,” Graham Winick told me when I asked why the state should be subsidizing movies. Winick runs Miami Beach’s film office and also heads a statewide trade group lobbying for the film industry. “It’s something a lot of communities in this country are fighting over.”
July 1 marked the opening of this budget year’s subsidy derby, when productions can qualify for Florida’s incentives.
Lucia Fishburne, the state’s film commissioner, said last week the state’s $10.8 million pot was scooped up immediately. Burn Notice got the most, followed by a feature film set to be shot in South Florida — Fishburne wouldn’t say which one.
The rest went to four video games, a big industry for the Orlando area that successfully lobbied to be included in Florida’s incentive program.
Supporters of incentives point to the seven- and eight-figure budget a movie can bring, not to mention the free advertising a show provides its host city.
Critics lambaste the notion of government paying out more in subsidies than they’ll get back in sales tax from the productions — not to mention the idea of underwriting an industry famous for huge salaries and lavish budgets.
The Massachusetts Department of Revenue estimates the state brought in only 15 cents for every dollar in production incentives handed out last year. Louisiana’s chief economist calculated a 20-cent return for every subsidized dollar.
But math tells only part of the story, of course. Hollywood brings with it a special set of credits and debits.
Miami’s current reputation as an edgy tropical outpost — and not a sunny retirement haven — comes partly from its depiction in Miami Vice during the 1980s. South Beach’s status as a top party destination gets ratified every time a celebrity is photographed at a nightclub there.
Then comes Burn Notice, which every week puts ex-spy Michael Westen (played by Jeffrey Donovan) basking in both the sun and criminal element of Miami, his hometown.
”There’s nothing like top-of-mind awareness,” said Robert Parente, the head of Miami’s film office. “Burn Notice keeps us in the forefront.”
Production subsidies are relatively new for Florida — the state offered none as recently as 2003. Both the Miami Vice show and the Miami Vice movie filmed here without government support.
But as other states began rolling out incentives this decade — Michigan and Louisiana are major players — Florida’s production industry rallied to make the Sunshine State compete in the subsidy wars.
It worked. As the subsidies peaked in 2007, Jennifer Aniston, Owen Wilson — in Marley and Me — and Jim Carrey — in I Love You Philip Morris headed to South Florida for movie shoots. Burn Notice signed on for two more seasons, the first series in South Florida since Vice.
Like an arms race, states competing for subsidized productions feel they can’t shut off the money spigot.
CSI: Miami already films in California. Burn Notice executives promised to leave without subsidies.
Burn Notice backers like to note how the show’s first two seasons both ended with Westen abducted, leaving viewers to guess where the bad guys were taking him.
Remember, the backers say: Writers can dump him in Louisiana should Florida’s production subsidies vanish.
It’s a threat, of course, but probably a good bet, too.
Douglas Hanks covers the tourism and entertainment industries for The Miami Herald.
Posted 20 December, 2008 in FL News
Florida has introduced a bill which will change its incentive from a rebate to a nonrefundable tax credit effective July 1, 2009. In total, $75 million will be available beginning on July 1, 2009 and ending June 30, 2012. $25 million is allocated to each fiscal year the incentive is in place. The production company must make an irrevocable election to apply the credit against income taxes, sales/use taxes or a stated combination of the two taxes. This election is binding on any transferee. Any unused credit may be carried forward for five years. A production company electing to apply the credit against income taxes is permitted a one-time transfer of the unused credits to no more than four transferees. A production company electing to apply the credit against sales/use taxes is permitted a one time transfer of unused credits to one transferee. The tax credit may not be exchanged for less than 75% of the credit’s value. The purchaser of any transferred tax credit must pay 5% of the total amount paid for the tax credit to the Grants and Donations Trust Fund. Tax credits purchased in good faith are not subject to forfeiture unless the transferee submitted fraudulent information in the purchase. Other than these proposed changes, the Florida incentive remains the same.
Posted 12 October, 2008 in FL News
FLORIDA, despite the reduction in their allocation for the current fiscal year, still has funds available for productions that start principal photography after January 1, 2009. Anyone interested should file an application as soon as possible. Applications are online at www.filminflorida.com.
Posted 10 June, 2008 in FL News
Instead of increasing the appropriation, Florida squeezed its fiscal year allocation from $25 million to $5 million. The Governor originally requested an increase to $40 million, but in a dramatic session the legislature reduced it step-by-step to zero, then finally approved $5 million.
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