Missouri will soon offer tax credits to help attract the film and music industries to the Show Me State. Gov. Mike Parson has signed a bill into law that will offer the tax credits later this year and they won’t expire until in 2030, unless the legislature extends them.
Senate Bill 94 is sponsored by Sen. Denny Hoskins, R-Warrensburg. Rep. Kurtis Gregory, R-Marshall, carried the bill in the Missouri House of Representatives.
“In order for recording artists to qualify for this, then they have to also do two concerts in the state of Missouri,” said Gregory. “Just the economic impact from when a guy like Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, Taylor Swift. If she comes and does a concert here, the economic impact out of that is unbelievable, when you fill up Arrowhead Stadium with you know, 50 or 60,000 Kenny Chesney fans.”
Tax credits will be provided equal to 20% of qualifying film production expenses, along with additional credits if certain conditions are met. They will also be offered for live entertainment rehearsal and tour expenses equal to 30% of the cost.
“All the money has to be spent first before the credit actually goes out, unlike some other credits where you’re going to get it regardless and then maybe it doesn’t get spent. So has to be spent – it has to be reviewed that they follow all the certain parameters that are laid out in order to receive then the tax credit. And so, I think it’s just be a huge boom to the state of Missouri. There’s over 5,000 graduates a year in film production,” said Gregory.
Missouri’s film tax credit program expired in 2013. It will up the ante to compete with Georgia, which has lured many productions to the state as a result of offering attractive film tax credits.
“We’ve got Kansas City, St. Louis, Springfield, Branson, the Lake of the Ozarks, Table Rock Lake, the Missouri River. In my district, we have Arrow Rock. You’ve got St. Joe,” said Gregory. “You’ve got Kearney. The of Jesse James. Like there’s just so much historical stuff in the state of Missouri, lots of different places that can be filmed to make it look like you’re in the 1800s all the way up to modern day.”
Jeremy Cady, with Americans for Prosperity, has said the government should not incentivize one industry over another.
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