RI Gov’s budget calls for elimination of film tax credit
It looks like the film tax credits will fall victim to the budget woes afflicting our state. I understand the pros and cons surrounding the tax credits: they help to attract film projects, but also take money out of the public tax rolls. It seems like a shame to thrown the baby out with the bath water by completely undoing the credits. As I mentioned in my article in Saturday’s ProJo (see post below), the credits could be part of a package of offerings used to build a film and digital media industry in this state. The goal should be to encourage new businesses to emerge, not to drive them elsewhere.
This is an excerpt from a story published in today’s ProJo:
[Lisa Carneval] also found allusions to the “governor’s proposal to eliminate two existing tax credits and institute a new tax credit, albeit one of a temporary duration.” More specifically, the document signaled Carcieri’s plans to eliminate “the state’s Motion Picture Production Company Tax Credit and the Enterprise Zone Wage Tax Credit.
While the film tax credits helped lure big name movie-makers and stars to Rhode Island, even the most ardent advocates of the program have had a hard time convincing the bean-counters that the state’s taxpayers have gotten back more than they lost in forgone income taxes.
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