The Iowa film tax credit scandal has prompted Governor Chet Culver to call for a review of all of Iowa’s tax credits. The report should measure the costs and benefits of the state’s credits to determine if they are achieving their goals in a cost effective manner. We encourage the Governor in this effort and hope that such a report will help spur the discussion on costly tax expenditures that often benefit a select group while providing little benefit to the rest of society. Also, it looks like an opportunity to avoid paying the hundreds of millions of dollars of tax credits alreay applied for or approved is not going to pan out. The Tax Update blog has more good info on the still-developing story in Iowa.
