Unions and MPA Urge Trump to Back Hollywood Tax Deductions
A coalition of entertainment unions, joined by the MPA, urged President Trump to support three tax deductions that benefit the film industry.
variety.com
A coalition of entertainment unions, joined by the Motion Picture Association, urged President Trump on Monday to support tax deductions that benefit the entertainment industry.
The unions organized a joint letter to Trump, which was also signed by two of Trump’s three “special ambassadors” to the industry, Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone.
In the letter, the unions thanked the president “for the support you have shown our industry,” and for drawing attention to the flight of production overseas. Last week, Trump announced a 100% tariff on “any and all” movies produced in “foreign lands,” in an effort to bring production jobs back to the U.S.
The joint letter does not mention the tariff. It does make reference to a federal film subsidy — a politically complicated undertaking which does not yet appear to have bipartisan support — as a “longer-term initiative,” but does not elaborate on that topic.
“Currently, more than 80 countries offer production tax incentives and as a result, numerous productions that could have been shot in America have instead located elsewhere,” the letter states. “Returning more production to the United States will require a national approach and broad-based policy solutions, including those we propose below as well as longer term initiatives such as implementing a federal film and television tax incentive.”
The letter focuses on three relatively small-bore measures, and asks Trump to support including them in the budget reconciliation package currently working its way through Congress. Those measures include an extension of Section 181, which speeds up the deduction of up to $15 million in production expenses.
The unions want to double that cap to $30 million — or up to $40 million for production in low-income areas.
The letter also seeks support for another deduction, Section 199, that expired in 2017. The deduction reduced corporate tax rates for certain forms of domestic manufacturing, including filmmaking.
“A domestic production incentive would make the U.S. market more competitive and able to retain and return high-paying jobs tied to film and television productions – and the use of this deduction has historically promoted significant economic and job growth,” the letter states.
