Over the past years, I have noticed an increasing amount of shows/movies filmed in the state of Georgia. CNN Center and The Weather Channel are also headquartered from the state’s capital, Atlanta.
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Georgia has incredibly favorable taxes for film productions. Georgia actually LOSES money on the film industry, but they can fudge the numbers to make it look like a success. The state’s own internal audits show that it’s a black hole of lost tax revenue.
What happens is that if film productions meet a handful of pretty easy to achieve criteria (like displaying the “Made in Georgia” clip at the end of their production), they receive a tax credit. BUT, most productions in Georgia are structured in such a way, that they don’t actually have much tax liability in GA. They don’t owe much tax to Georgia. Instead, they’re allowed to SELL the credit to others, like a rich Georgia resident. So if I’m mister money bags living in GA, I can buy the credit from the film studio for less than it’s worth and lower my tax bill. The film company makes $ selling the credit; the rich tax payer pays less in taxes, and the state government is left holding the bag.
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