THE MASSACHUSETTS SENATE put the state’s film tax credit in play on Tuesday, approving a budget amendment that would shave about $15 million off of the roughly $80 million in subsidies offered to commercials and movies filmed in Massachusetts each year. The film tax credit has become a political football on Beacon Hill, with governors, […]
Film tax credit
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Baker: Tax credits should help local firms
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said on Wednesday that he is filing legislation to pare back the cost of the state’s film tax credit and increase the reach of another tax break to better focus state resources on helping local companies instead of big productions out of Hollywood. Baker, who last year led an unsuccessful bid to […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Running the math on Black Mass
The producers of Black Mass and the Motion Picture Association of America used some very selective Hollywood editing this week to plug the Massachusetts film tax credit. With the tax credit under fire from members of the state Senate and the Baker administration, the Motion Picture Association issued a press release on Tuesday saying the […]
Posted inArts and Culture, Economy, Politics
Senator still working on film tax credit changes
THE SENATE COCHAIR of the Legislature’s Revenue Committee said on Wednesday that he is still working on legislation that would reduce the cost of the state’s film tax credit. “It’s a work in progress,” said Sen. Michael Rodrigues of Westport, who has been working on the legislation for months. “There’s a lot of moving pieces.” […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Earned income tax credit vs. film tax credit
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER made the first move, calling early in March for an expansion of the politically popular earned income tax credit and proposing to pay for it with money saved by eliminating the state’s film tax credit. A top House leader responded on Tuesday, dismissing Department of Revenue studies suggesting the film tax credit […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Baker’s movie play
Gov. Charlie Baker is demonstrating that he can roll out a budget very skillfully. Using the Boston Globe as his message delivery system, the governor this week has unveiled a number of good government initiatives designed to cast him in a positive light before he unveils his budget on Wednesday and starts taking heat for […]
Posted inEconomy, The Back Story
Look who’s getting tax credits
The amount of film tax credits issued by the state plummeted in 2013. Some of the decline is undoubtedly due to paperwork timing issues, but the drop off is so big that it makes you wonder whether Hollywood took a temporary break from Massachusetts last year. The data are contained in a new tax credit […]
Posted inEconomy
Film tax credit spending flows mostly out of state
A new state report says the Massachusetts film tax credit program generated more than $300 million in new spending in 2012, but, as in past years, most of that money flowed out of state. The state Revenue Department said Massachusetts handed out nearly $79 million in film tax credits in 2012, generating $304 million in […]
Posted inArts and Culture, Economy
Studio report lauds tax credit
The Hollywood movie studios that benefit financially from the Massachusetts film tax credit released a report on Wednesday indicating the economic gains for the state as a whole are greater than the estimates contained in earlier reports by the state Revenue Department. For 2011, the report said the film tax credit supported 2,220 full-time equivalent […]
Posted inEconomy
Cap on film tax credit voted down by House
The Massachusetts House rejected a bid to cap film tax credit expenditures at $40 million a year, with a top House leader saying a cap would end up killing the state’s fledgling film and television industry. Rep. Angelo Scaccia offered the cap as an amendment to the House budget on Monday. His proposal, which was […]