(35 ILCS 16/10) Sec. 10. Definitions. As used in this Act: "Accredited production" means: (i) for productions commencing before May 1, 2006, a film, video, or television production that has been certified by the Department in which the aggregate Illinois labor expenditures included in the cost of the production, in the period that ends 12 months after the time principal filming or taping of the production began, exceed $100,000 for productions of 30 minutes or longer, or $50,000 for productions of less than 30 minutes; and (ii) for productions commencing on or after May 1, 2006, a film, video, or television production that has been certified by the Department in which the Illinois production spending included in the cost of production in the period that ends 12 months after the time principal filming or taping of the production began exceeds $100,000 for productions of 30 minutes or longer or exceeds $50,000 for productions of less than 30 minutes. "Accredited production" does not include a production that: (1) is news, current events, or public programming, |
| or a program that includes weather or market reports;
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(2) is a talk show produced for local or regional
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(3) (blank);
(4) is a sports event or activity;
(5) is a gala presentation or awards show;
(6) is a finished production that solicits funds;
(7) is a production produced by a film production
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| company if records, as required by 18 U.S.C. 2257, are to be maintained by that film production company with respect to any performer portrayed in that single media or multimedia program; or
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(8) is a production produced primarily for
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| industrial, corporate, or institutional purposes.
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"Accredited animated production" means an accredited production in which movement and characters' performances are created using a frame-by-frame technique and a significant number of major characters are animated. Motion capture by itself is not an animation technique.
"Accredited production certificate" means a certificate issued by the Department certifying that the production is an accredited production that meets the guidelines of this Act.
"Applicant" means a taxpayer that is a film production company that is operating or has operated an accredited production located within the State of Illinois and that (i) owns the copyright in the accredited production throughout the Illinois production period or (ii) has contracted directly with the owner of the copyright in the accredited production or a person acting on behalf of the owner to provide services for the production, where the owner of the copyright is not an eligible production corporation.
"Credit" means:
(1) for an accredited production approved by the
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| Department on or before January 1, 2005 and commencing before May 1, 2006, the amount equal to 25% of the Illinois labor expenditure approved by the Department. The applicant is deemed to have paid, on its balance due day for the year, an amount equal to 25% of its qualified Illinois labor expenditure for the tax year. For Illinois labor expenditures generated by the employment of residents of geographic areas of high poverty or high unemployment, as determined by the Department, in an accredited production commencing before May 1, 2006 and approved by the Department after January 1, 2005, the applicant shall receive an enhanced credit of 10% in addition to the 25% credit; and
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(2) for an accredited production commencing on or
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| after May 1, 2006 and before January 1, 2009, the amount equal to:
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(i) 20% of the Illinois production spending for
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(ii) 15% of the Illinois labor expenditures
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| generated by the employment of residents of geographic areas of high poverty or high unemployment, as determined by the Department; and
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(3) for an accredited production commencing on or
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| after January 1, 2009, the amount equal to:
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(i) 30% of the Illinois production spending for
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(ii) 15% of the Illinois labor expenditures
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| generated by the employment of residents of geographic areas of high poverty or high unemployment, as determined by the Department.
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"Department" means the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
"Director" means the Director of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
"Illinois labor expenditure" means salary or wages paid to employees of the applicant for services on the accredited production.
To qualify as an Illinois labor expenditure, the expenditure must be:
(1) Reasonable in the circumstances.
(2) Included in the federal income tax basis of the
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(3) Incurred by the applicant for services on or
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(4) Incurred for the production stages of the
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| accredited production, from the final script stage to the end of the post-production stage.
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(5) Limited to the first $25,000 of wages paid or
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| incurred to each employee of a production commencing before May 1, 2006 and the first $100,000 of wages paid or incurred to each employee of a production commencing on or after May 1, 2006 and prior to July 1, 2022. For productions commencing on or after July 1, 2022, limited to the first $500,000 of wages paid or incurred to each eligible nonresident or resident employee of a production company or loan out company that provides in-State services to a production, whether those wages are paid or incurred by the production company, loan out company, or both, subject to withholding payments provided for in Article 7 of the Illinois Income Tax Act. For purposes of calculating Illinois labor expenditures for a television series, the eligible nonresident wage limitations provided under this subparagraph are applied to the entire season. For the purpose of this paragraph (5), an eligible nonresident is a nonresident whose wages qualify as an Illinois labor expenditure under the provisions of paragraph (9) that apply to that production.
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(6) For a production commencing before May 1, 2006,
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| exclusive of the salary or wages paid to or incurred for the 2 highest paid employees of the production.
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(7) Directly attributable to the accredited
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(8) (Blank).
(9) Prior to July 1, 2022, paid to persons resident
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| in Illinois at the time the payments were made. For a production commencing on or after July 1, 2022, paid to persons resident in Illinois and nonresidents at the time the payments were made.
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For purposes of this subparagraph, if the production
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| is accredited by the Department before the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, only wages paid to nonresidents working in the following positions shall be considered Illinois labor expenditures: Writer, Director, Director of Photography, Production Designer, Costume Designer, Production Accountant, VFX Supervisor, Editor, Composer, and Actor, subject to the limitations set forth under this subparagraph. For an accredited Illinois production spending of $25,000,000 or less, no more than 2 nonresident actors' wages shall qualify as an Illinois labor expenditure. For an accredited production with Illinois production spending of more than $25,000,000, no more than 4 nonresident actor's wages shall qualify as Illinois labor expenditures.
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For purposes of this subparagraph, if the production
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| is accredited by the Department on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, wages paid to nonresidents shall qualify as Illinois labor expenditures only under the following conditions:
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(A) the nonresident must be employed in a
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(B) for each of those accredited productions, the
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| wages of not more than 9 nonresidents who are employed in a qualified position other than Actor shall qualify as Illinois labor expenditures;
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(C) for an accredited production with Illinois
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| production spending of $25,000,000 or less, no more than 2 nonresident actors' wages shall qualify as Illinois labor expenditures; and
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(D) for an accredited production with Illinois
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| production spending of more than $25,000,000, no more than 4 nonresident actors' wages shall qualify as Illinois labor expenditures.
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As used in this paragraph (9), "qualified position"
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| means: Writer, Director, Director of Photography, Production Designer, Costume Designer, Production Accountant, VFX Supervisor, Editor, Composer, or Actor.
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(10) Paid for services rendered in Illinois.
"Illinois production spending" means the expenses incurred by the applicant for an accredited production, but does not include any monetary prize or the cost of any non-monetary prize awarded pursuant to a production in respect of a game, questionnaire, or contest. "Illinois production spending" includes, without limitation, all of the following:
(1) expenses to purchase, from vendors within
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| Illinois, tangible personal property that is used in the accredited production;
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(2) expenses to acquire services, from vendors in
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| Illinois, for film production, editing, or processing; and
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(3) for a production commencing before July 1, 2022,
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| the compensation, not to exceed $100,000 for any one employee, for contractual or salaried employees who are Illinois residents performing services with respect to the accredited production. For a production commencing on or after July 1, 2022, the compensation, not to exceed $500,000 for any one employee, for contractual or salaried employees who are Illinois residents or nonresident employees, subject to the limitations set forth under Section 10 of this Act.
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"Loan out company" means a personal service corporation or other entity that is under contract with the taxpayer to provide specified individual personnel, such as artists, crew, actors, producers, or directors for the performance of services used directly in a production. "Loan out company" does not include entities contracted with by the taxpayer to provide goods or ancillary contractor services such as catering, construction, trailers, equipment, or transportation.
"Qualified production facility" means stage facilities in the State in which television shows and films are or are intended to be regularly produced and that contain at least one sound stage of at least 15,000 square feet.
Rulemaking authority to implement Public Act 95-1006, if any, is conditioned on the rules being adopted in accordance with all provisions of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act and all rules and procedures of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules; any purported rule not so adopted, for whatever reason, is unauthorized.
(Source: P.A. 102-558, eff. 8-20-21; 102-700, eff. 4-19-22; 102-1125, eff. 2-3-23; 103-595, eff. 6-26-24.)
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(35 ILCS 16/30)
Sec. 30. Review of application for accredited production certificate.
(a) In
determining whether to issue an accredited production certificate,
the Department must determine that a preponderance of the following conditions
exist:
(1) The applicant's production intends to make the |
| expenditure in the State required for certification.
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(2) The applicant's production is economically sound
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| and will benefit the people of the State of Illinois by increasing opportunities for employment and strengthen the economy of Illinois.
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(3) The applicant has filed a diversity plan with the
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| Department outlining specific goals (i) for hiring minority persons and women, as defined in the Business Enterprise for Minorities, Women, and Persons with Disabilities Act, and (ii) for using vendors receiving certification under the Business Enterprise for Minorities, Women, and Persons with Disabilities Act; the Department has approved the plan as meeting the requirements established by the Department; and the Department has verified that the applicant has met or made good-faith efforts in achieving those goals. The Department must adopt any rules that are necessary to ensure compliance with the provisions of this item (3) and that are necessary to require that the applicant's plan reflects the diversity of this State.
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(4) The applicant's production application indicates
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| whether the applicant intends to participate in training, education, and recruitment programs that are organized in cooperation with Illinois colleges and universities, labor organizations, and the motion picture industry and are designed to promote and encourage the training and hiring of Illinois residents who represent the diversity of the Illinois population.
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(5) That, if not for the credit, the applicant's
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| production would not occur in Illinois, which may be demonstrated by any means including, but not limited to, evidence that the applicant has multi-state or international location options and could reasonably and efficiently locate outside of the State, or demonstration that at least one other state or nation is being considered for the production, or evidence that the receipt of the credit is a major factor in the applicant's decision and that without the credit the applicant likely would not create or retain jobs in Illinois, or demonstration that receiving the credit is essential to the applicant's decision to create or retain new jobs in the State.
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(6) Awarding the credit will result in an overall
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| positive impact to the State, as determined by the Department using the best available data.
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(b) If any of the provisions in this Section conflict with any existing
collective
bargaining agreements, the terms and conditions of those collective bargaining
agreements shall control.
(Source: P.A. 100-391, eff. 8-25-17.)
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(35 ILCS 16/45)
Sec. 45. Evaluation of tax credit program; reports to the General Assembly. (a) The Department shall evaluate the tax credit program. The evaluation must include an assessment of the effectiveness of the program in creating and retaining new jobs in Illinois and of the revenue impact of the program, and may include a review of the practices and experiences of other states or nations with similar programs. Upon completion of this evaluation, the Department shall determine the overall success of the program, and may make a recommendation to extend, modify, or not extend the program based on this evaluation. (b) At the end of each fiscal quarter, the Department must submit to the General Assembly a report that includes, without limitation, the following information: (1) the economic impact of the tax credit program, |
| including the number of jobs created and retained, including whether the job positions are entry level, management, talent-related, vendor-related, or production-related;
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(2) the amount of film production spending brought to
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| Illinois, including the amount of spending and type of Illinois vendors hired in connection with an accredited production; and
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(3) an overall picture of whether the human
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| infrastructure of the motion picture industry in Illinois reflects the geographical, racial and ethnic, gender, and income-level diversity of the State of Illinois.
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(c) At the end of each fiscal year, the Department must
submit to the General Assembly a report that includes the following information:
(1) an identification of each vendor that provided
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| goods or services that were included in an accredited production's Illinois production spending, provided that the accredited production's Illinois production spending attributable to that vendor exceeds, in the aggregate, $10,000 or 10% of the accredited production's Illinois production spending, whichever is less;
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(2) the amount paid to each identified vendor by the
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(3) for each identified vendor, a statement as to
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| whether the vendor is a minority-owned business or a women-owned business, as defined under Section 2 of the Business Enterprise for Minorities, Women, and Persons with Disabilities Act, based on the best efforts of an accredited production; and
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(4) a description of any steps taken by the
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| Department to encourage accredited productions to use vendors who are a minority-owned business or a women-owned business.
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(Source: P.A. 100-391, eff. 8-25-17; 100-603, eff. 7-13-18; 101-81, eff. 7-12-19.)
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