New media and technology innovation; establishes income tax credit.

New media and technology innovation income tax credit. Establishes a new media and technology innovation income tax credit, starting with taxable year 2020, which is a nonrefundable tax credit for expenses related to producing in Virginia commercial advertisements, digital interactive media productions, and episodic television series. The bill allows a company to submit a single application for a project covering multiple tax years and requires such company to make available a third-party audit of its project-related expenses.The bill provides that the Department of Taxation and the Virginia Film Office shall review applications for credits and that the MEI (Major Employment and Investment) Project Approval Commission shall review applications for tax credits and recommend whether to endorse them; however, its recommendation shall not be binding on the determination of the Department and the Virginia Film Office on whether to approve the application.The credit equals 15 percent of expenses or 20 percent for productions in economically distressed areas of Virginia. Expenses eligible for the credit exclude purchases that were exempt from sales tax unless such purchases were made at least one year prior to such taxpayer entering into an agreement with the Virginia Film Office related to the tax credit. Productions may receive additional credits of up to 20 percent of (i) production costs over $250,000 and (ii) compensation paid to Virginia residents who are first-time actors or production crew members.The bill provides that credits may be carried over to subsequent taxable years for up to 10 years and transferred to another party upon payment to the Department of a fee of two percent. The bill authorizes the Governor to use funds from any source to buy back credits from credit holders, provided that the Governor pays at least 80 percent of their value.