We all like an incentive to do something and business
is no different. Whether it’s tax credits for development or state dollars for training, most deals in Indiana include incentives.Whether to grant them is a tough decision for fiscal leaders. The calculation of whether it spurs business activity or merely subsidizes it is tough to nail, but this much is clear about selective stinginess: “The Fault in Our Stars,” a movie that absolutely should be made in Indiana, is shooting in Pittsburgh instead.
When it comes to incentives for making movies, Film Indiana brings a peashooter to a bazooka battle. Film Indiana, the successor to the moderately successful Indiana Film Commission, has an arsenal of exactly one incentive: the state will waive sales and county innkeepers’ taxes on rooms rented for at least 30 days.
Meanwhile Michigan offers
a tax credit of up to 42 percent of a production company’s expenditures related to a film project. In Ohio, it’s 25 percent of expenses and 35 percent of the wages paid to Buckeyes. Even Kentucky offers a 20 percent tax credit.The worthiness of tax credits all depends upon your point of view. Former Gov. Mitch Daniels blessed some tax credits, but he didn’t like what he called subsidies for the movie business. Daniels vetoed a bill to enact a 15 percent tax credit for film production, which is exactly the opposite tack taken by our neighboring states and Pennsylvania, which allows up to $60 million in such tax credits each year and where “The Fault in Our Stars” is being filmed.
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Indiana’s film industry contributed nearly $250 million to the Hoosier economy last year, according to the Motion Picture Association of America. In Pennsylvania, it was more than $730 million. A group of film industry advocates will try again next year to convince Indiana lawmakers to enact tax incentives to boost their industry.
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http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013310050030
