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HAROLD HILL HAS A NEW FILM BILL

April 04, 2007

For procedural reasons that escape me, a new version of the filmmaker giveaway bill was introduced and referred to the Iowa House Ways and Means Committee yesterday.

The bill, HF 892, has three separate giveaways for people who want to make movies in Iowa:

-A 25% tax credit for production expenses;
-A 25% tax credit for investors in film projects, and
-A tax exemption for income "sale, rental, or furnishing of tangible personal property or services directly related to the production" of a film project.

The credits can be sold, which means the filmmakers get cash from the state for their projects. Since the credits will likely be sold at a discount, it's just like a subsidy, only with built-in waste. With a total of 50% in credits, taxpayers get to foot the bill for half of a project's costs.

But there's more! It's not enough to subsidize the filmmakers. We also give a tax exemption to the direct beneficiaries of these subsidies - the hotels, the extras, the local Wal-mart that sells stuff to the film company. Everybody wins! Everybody, that is, except the 99.9% of the taxpayers that have nothing to do with a film project.

Follow all of the Iowa tax legislative boondoggles at our 2007 Iowa Tax Legislation page.

Link: Prior tax update coverage.

 • Eye on the Legislature: 2007       Bookmark: del.icio.us • Digg • reddit