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Georgia expected to pay $1.08 billion for Georgia Film Tax Credit in 2024

By Sam Sachs

Georgia film industry (WSB-TV)

By Sam Sachs

ATLANTA — As Channel 2 Action News has covered in the past, Georgia has been a busy state when it comes to high-dollar film production.

Some of the biggest films and shows of the past decade have been shot in the state, from popular Netflix shows Stranger Things and Ozark to scenes in a variety of Marvel productions, Star Wars, the Walking Dead and so much more.

Part of why Georgia has been home to these productions is its much-vaunted Film Tax Credit.

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A new audit report on the state credit is forecasting a nearly $1.1 billion cost to taxpayers in 2024.

The same estimate, produced by the Georgia State University Fiscal Research Center and published by the state auditor’s office, said the estimated revenue to come from that expenditure is far less.

According to the report, only $290.4 million is expected to be generated in 2024, compared to the tax expenditure for Georgia residents.

Based on the audit, the value of the revenue generated is only about 27% of the amount it’ll cost taxpayers.

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Over the next four fiscal years, the audit estimated that claimed tax credits from the Georgia Film Tax Credit would increase to $1.28 billion by 2028.

The low comparative revenue comes just a month after a separate study on the film industry’s impact in the state reported spending in the state due to film had grown past $4 billion since 2012.

The report was commissioned by the Georgia Screen Entertainment Coalition. In comments made in 2022, the coalition said the film industry had created an overall $8.55 billion in total economic output and $5.54 billion in added economic value. Generally, GSEC says “every $1 in film tax incentives generates a return on investment of $6.30 in economic impact for the state of Georgia.”

Additionally, officials said in September that spending in the state by television and film productions had grown to $4.1 billion, with Gov. Brian Kemp touting it as a “blockbuster year” for the state. Both state officials and GSEC said film production had created tens of thousands of jobs in Georgia, as high as 60,000 according to some estimates.

The GSU Fiscal Research Center instead estimated the film industry had created about 34,354 jobs with an impact on the state economy. FRC came to that number by excluding jobs for nonresidents, saying the wages paid to non-Georgians “have no material impact on the state’s economy.”

Citing the opportunity cost of the tax expense, FRC said using the collected taxes on other projects or initiatives in Georiga, rather than the film industry, could have created 27,679 jobs and added $1.48 billion to the state economy.

By comparison, resulting economic activity from the film industry and the film tax credit in Georgia was estimated to only bring in $224.7 million in state revenue and $65.7 million in local tax revenue, according to FRC’s audit. Alternate use of the revenue would have generated $80 million for the state and $36.5 million for locals in FY 2024, the audit reported.

In terms of fiscal impact to the state, the FRC audit estimated tax expenditures for the 2024 fiscal year were about $762.8 million. Over the next four fiscal years, through 2028, that expense is expected to grow to $1.28 billion, while revenue gains will only increase to $351 million from $224.7 million in the current fiscal year.

While the growth is good, when it comes to revenue gains, the audit shows the financial impacts locally will be positive, while the state itself will lose money.

The state of Georgia maintains a list of productions filmed in Georgia and others that are currently underway.

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