John Stossel cited our recent study of film tax credits in his FoxBusiness.com blog, John Stossel’s Take: Transferring taxpayer dollars to filmmakers is not rational economic strategy. Such projects rarely encourage job creation. The Tax Foundation points out that investing in movie production projects mostly attracts “temporary jobs that are often transplanted from other states…” Still, states make dramatic job creation claims about film subsidies. The Tax Foundation reviews a 2009 report by the Pennsylvania Legislative Budget and Finance Committee and finds that “Pennsylvania’s film tax credit produces net benefits of $4.5 million by assuming that any business interacting with the film industry would not exist but for the credit.” That, of course, is nonsense. Still, state bureaucrats are eager to give away your money. Two recent posts on film tax credits from our Tax Policy Blog: Michigan Attaching Content Strings to Film Tax Credit Film Tax Credits Losing Their Appeal
