If you’ve never heard of the Massachusetts Film Tax Credit, it’s basically an incentive program for movies that are produced, in whole or in part, in Massachusetts. These companies may end up being eligible for Sales and Use Tax Exemption, transferable 25% payroll credit, and/or transferable 25% Production Expense credit. It’s basically an incentive for companies to produce their films in the state of Massachusetts.

Well, since it was enacted in 2006, there have been multiple attempts to limit/cut the tax credit and luckily, so far those attempts have failed every time. There is another attempt currently going on in the legislature by Governor Baker to cut the Film Tax Credit and invest more in the earned income credit for low income families. 

There are people fighting for both sides and on March 30, 2016, I had the pleasure of sitting on a panel of students, teachers, and recent graduates in support of the Tax Credit. I talked about my experiences in the industry; from my internship freshman year to my freelance work with local companies and to a recent position with a local production company, MediaBoss Television.

All of the panel members had great things to say about their experiences and reasons why the tax credit should stick around. Getting rid of this tax credit would offset a big industry, put a lot of people out of jobs, and relocate many people as well. The hard working people in this industry have families and happy lives here in Massachusetts and disrupting that is not something the state should do.

Overall it was a great experience and if you have any questions about the tax credit, feel free to shoot me an email or search it on Google!