The limited expensing regime for qualified film or television productions expired at the end of 2025. Although a perennial tax extender until the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 established the most recent sunset, the provision’s relatively low dollar cap left it somewhat anemic anyway. And with bonus depreciation generally triggered by release or broadcast, rather than production, the benefit of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s permanent 100% bonus depreciation is less immediate for Hollywood than for other industries.
Now, Politico reports that President Trump has called for “a federal production incentive for film and television, throwing his support behind a growing effort in Hollywood to stem the loss of entertainment work to other countries.” Amid talk of a bipartisan year-end tax bill, there’s some across-the-aisle momentum for rapid action on the issue. Will this issue usher in an era of good feelings for tax legislation?
More reportage—and a perhaps-surprising quote from California Senator and former lead House impeachment manager Adam Schiff—below the fold.
Daniel Miller, Waiting for Jon Voight, Hollywood’s Would-Be Savior, Politico (Aug. 29, 2026):
The federal production incentive that is being discussed would include a 20 percent credit for labor both in front of and behind the camera, with a mechanism requiring that the vast majority of the work would go to U.S. personnel, according to the two people with knowledge of the legislative effort.
It would also be stackable atop states’ incentives. That would make places such as California, which last year more than doubled the size of its incentive program but has still seen the loss of business, much more competitive on a global scale. Because several states with sizable production ecosystems are Republican-led—Georgia and Louisiana among them—the issue is a rare one with bipartisan appeal.
Daniel Miller, Trump Calls for Hollywood Tax Incentive, Politico (Aug. 31, 2026):
In a lengthy social media post, the president said Republicans and Democrats should “craft Legislation to save the Movie, Television, and Entertainment Business in America” . . . . [Trump] previously weighed introducing a tariff on films made overseas . . . .
Even Sen. Adam Schiff, in a rare instance of alignment with Trump, wrote on social media, “I am in strong agreement with the President.”
Previous TaxProf Blog coverage:
- Bloomberg: California Film Tax Credit Demand Rises Under Expanded Program (July 9, 2026)
- Tax Policy in the Trump Administration (May 1, 2025) [on Hollywood’s tax treatment]
- The Madness of State Film Tax Incentives (May 25, 2012)
- WSJ: Hollywood Tax Goodie in Stimulus Bill (Jan. 30, 2009)
