The “read it here…” link below will take you to the article about the Illinois Tax Credit.
Whats interesting about this article is that you always have 2 sides of the story (sometimes 4 when politics is involved) whenever there is talk about the tax incenitve/rebate/credit issue around the country.
From the article:
“John Nothdurft, a budget and tax legislative specialist for the Heartland Institute in Chicago, said most states with film tax credits only recoup between 15 and 25 cents of every dollar they lose with the incentives.“
A recent article from a Michigan newspaper states the same, read it here.
Then again, here is the other side of the argument:
“John Genz, an accountant who specializes in the film industry, said the system may actually be working. Genz said many of the cost-benefit studies are shortsighted because they don’t take into account the multiplier effect. He explains that the millions of dollars a production company spends on crews, hotels, food and other expenses ends up changing hands several times in the local economy and rack up other taxes for the state in each exchange“.
Whats interesting about all of this is that California and New York do not rebate actors.
Whats also interesting is that California and New York are 2 of the largest production centers in the world.
My feeling is that even though it took longer for California’s film incentives to take effect, I believe that California’s incentives are more fiscally responsible than most of the other states.
Phil Rose on tough decisions when making a movie
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