Taxation: credits: qualified film and digital media infrastructure projects: qualified motion pictures.

The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws, including a credit against those taxes for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2011, in an amount equal to a specified percentage of either 20% or 25%, respectively, of the qualified expenditures, as defined, attributable to the production of a qualified motion picture in California, or, where the qualified motion picture has relocated to California or is an independent film, as provided. Existing law imposes specified duties on the California Film Commission related to the administration of the credits, including a requirement to allocate the tax credits until July 1, 2017, and limits the aggregate amount of credits that may be allocated to qualified motion pictures in any fiscal year to $100,000,000, through the 2016–17 fiscal year. This bill, under the Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law, would, among other things, remove the sunset provisions, thus extending the credit indefinitely, revise the limit on the aggregate amount of credits that may be allocated in a fiscal year to $____, revise how the credit amount is determined for specified qualified motion pictures, provide that credit amount for television series shall be 20% of qualified expenditures, provide that the credit amounts may be increased based on specified criteria, and reserve up to $____ and $____ for television series and for specified productions that perform postproduction in the state. This bill would also, under both laws for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2014, allow a credit against tax in an amount as provided in a written agreement between the California Film Commission and the taxpayer, not to exceed 5% of an investment made by the taxpayer in a qualified film and digital media infrastructure project, as defined, located in this state. This bill would include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIIIA of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.