Archive for April 20th, 2015

TRAILER PARK BOYS INTRODUCING BRIAN SCOLARO by Pemberton Music Festival (CC BY-NC 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/ow12W1

Race to the Bottom: Why Government Tax Credits For Film and TV Production Don’t Pay

The Nova Scotia government has been embroiled in a high profile controversy for the past week following its decision to slash tax credits available to film and television production in the province. The decision sparked an immediate backlash from the industry, which staged a major protest last Wednesday across from the legislature in Halifax.

While the government’s approach is certainly open to criticism – abruptly cutting the tax credits without warning may force the cancellation of long-planned productions this summer – the larger question of whether it should provide massive tax relief to the film and television industry is an important one. Eliminating or cutting the programs is politically difficult given the star power associated with film and television production, yet a growing number of studies have found that film and television tax credits do not deliver much bang for the buck.

My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes that the widespread use of film and television production tax subsidies dates back more than two decades as states and provinces used them to lure productions with the promise of new jobs and increased economic activity. The proliferation of subsidies and tax credits created a race to the bottom, where ever-increasing incentives were required to distinguish one province or state from the other.

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April 20, 2015 27 comments Columns

Tax Credits for Film and TV Production a Race to the Bottom

Appeared in the Toronto Star on April 18, 2015 as Tax Credits for Film and TV Production a Race to the Bottom The Nova Scotia government has been embroiled in a high profile controversy for the past week following its decision to slash tax credits available to film and television […]

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April 20, 2015 4 comments Columns Archive