Tax Incentives

Film & TV Production Tax Credit Updates For July - August, 2023: California, Texas, and Minnesota

Looking for your next filming location? Tax credits and incentives can go a long way towards making the most of your production budget. Here’s the most significant announced state film & TV production tax credit updates for July - August, 2023.

Minnesota

The legislature expanded the current 25% tax credit cap of $5 million to $25 million and extended the program for the next 8 years. They’ve also updated the requirement to spend at least $1 million dollars in a taxable year, to allow the spend to occur in any 12 month consecutive period.

The new legislation puts Minnesota in a much more competitive position within the industry. It is the State’s hope that the changes will eventually increase the labor pool for film production and attract investment in new studios & equipment in Minnesota.

Of note:

The state also offers incentives for films shot in Northern Minnesota.
Projects can stack the Iron Range, St Louis County and state of MN incentives.

To learn more about the incentives in Northern MN you can email admin@uppermidwestfilmtv.org

Texas

With the intention of attracting more filmmakers and experienced crews to Texas, lawmakers recently approved a bill that increases the state’s filming grant budget from $45 million to $200 million.

Below are some highlights of the cash grant for film & TV projects:

Base incentive rate of 5% - 20% based on in-state spending totals, with an additional 2.5% uplift for productions working within underutilized or struggling economic areas
Minimum eligible Texas spend of $250K ($250K per season for episodic TV)
At least 60% of production days must be completed in Texas
At least 70% of the crew must be Texas residents
No per project cap
Qualified Texas spending can include eligible pre-production, production and post-production costs

California

Assembly Bill 132 creates a new pilot program for production safety, and requires all approved motion picture tax credit applicant’s to hire a qualified safety advisor for California filming activities to perform a risk assessment.

The safety advisor must be present on set, and have access to all locations and relevant shooting facilities to ensure safety.

Production would also need to conduct daily safety meetings with their safety advisor. Within 60 days following the completion of filming activities, the safety advisor would prepare a final safety evaluation report and provide it to the Industry-Wide Labor-Management Safety Committee & the California Film Commission.

Below are some additional updates the bill is expected to make to the film & TV tax credit program:

Allow the California Film Commission to reduce the monetary value of the motion picture credit by 4% if a qualified taxpayer chooses not to submit a diversity work plan or if the California Film Commission determines that the qualified taxpayer has not met or made a good-faith effort to meet the diversity goals in its diversity work plan
Allow a qualified taxpayer to elect to be paid a refund for the tax credit amount that exceeds their tax liability for the taxable year
Would limit the amount that may be allocated to qualified applicants in the Soundstage Filming Tax Credit Program to $12,000,000, or $750,000 per episode for a season of a television series
The bill’s commitment to safety & diversity will help ensure that the film and television industry will remain a vibrant part of California’s economic landscape.

✅ You can find previous updates from April - May, 2023 for New York, Maryland, New Mexico, Arizona, and Missouri here.