The Illinois General Assembly concluded their spring session early Saturday morning with great news for our Illinois film production industry. The Illinois Production+ and workforce development fund legislation affirmatively passed both the House and Senate.
Effective July 1, 2022 the Illinois Film Production Tax Credit program will officially be expanded, implementing the new provisions provided in the Illinois Production+ legislation championed by the IPA.
Christine Dudley, Executive Director of the Illinois Production Alliance (IPA), announced the details as follows:
The IPA legislative team along with our coalition partners, The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, and The Motion Picture Association worked until dawn in advocacy of the passage of this industry game changing legislation.
Due to our combined efforts, members of the General Assembly recognized the positive impact of our industry and the need to provide the tools for capturing a greater market share in an increasingly competitive landscape.
State Representative, Margaret Croke (12th District) said the following:
“In the past decade, Illinois’ film and television industry has grown to be a nationwide competitor, and that is largely thanks to the Illinois Film Production Services Tax Credit. This highly-effective incentive has brought millions in direct spending, as well as numerous job opportunities, to our communities. Thanks to the good work of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and the Illinois Production Alliance, the new expanded tax credit will meet the needs of a competitive market, and help Illinois remain a high-profile hub of film and television.”
The highlights of the legislation include:
- A modest expansion to allow for a limited number of non-resident wages to qualify for the credit.
- Qualifying Non-resident wages are limited to, Director, Writer, Director of Photography, Production Designer, Costume Designer, Production Accountant, VFX Supervisor, Editor, Composer, Actor
- For qualified productions spending $25,000,000 or less, no more than 2 non-resident actors qualify.
- For qualified productions spending $25,000,000+, no more than 4 non-resident actors qualify.
- $500,000 cap (currently $100,000 for resident wages only) on qualified resident and non-resident wages (for a television series, qualifying non-resident wages are limited to the entire season).
- Creates the Illinois Production Workforce Development Fund for the purpose of providing grants to qualified training programs with an emphasis on developing employment pathways for minorities and women. Administered by the Department of Commerce and Economic Development/IFO.
- The fund will be financed through a tax credit transfer fee: 2.5% of transferred credit amount eligible for non-resident wages, and an additional .25% of the total amount of the transferred credit which is not calculated on non-resident wages.
The specific language in its entirety can be found here, starting on page 23.
“We hope you will take a few moments to stand up and do the happy dance,” said Christine Dudley. “But know we can’t rest on our laurels. This is a big win for our industry and just the next step in the journey to take Illinois Production to the next level.”
More details and info to come from the IPA.
#IllinoisFilmProductionTaxCredit #IPA #reelchicagonews
