All Articles Tagged "tax incentives"
IRS Rules That Make College Less Taxing
(Black Enterprise) — The cost of a college education could quickly empty out your pockets. It’s probably the most expensive purchase you’ll make besides a home. Who wouldn’t want a break on tuition? The good news is you can lighten your financial load by taking advantage of tax incentives that are available to you. The April 2012 tax deadline is several months away, but you can start tracking educational expenses that might be eligible for a tax break. Here are some tax deductions, credits, and savings plans that will help loosen the chokehold on your wallet. American Opportunity Credit. Tax credits are beneficial because they reduce the amount of income tax you might have to pay. The American Opportunity Credit adds required course materials to the list of qualifying expenses and allows taxpayers to claim the credit for four years of college instead of two. The maximum annual credit of $2,500 per student is available to individuals whose modified adjusted gross income is $80,000 or less or $160,000 or less for married couples filing a joint return.
Lights … Camera … Spending!
(Washington Examiner) — Maryland, Virginia and the District are locked in battle for big Hollywood dollars as they search for projects that could bring cash infusions for strapped local budgets as the economy continues to falter. A Hollywood production brings more to town than just the excitement of spotting faces usually seen only on the TV or movie screen. In one day, a feature film crew can spend as much as $500,000 on catering, hotel rooms and local workers. In just one week last year, the producers of “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” spent $2.5 million in the District, city officials said. Washington has a natural pull with its unique backdrop of national monuments. But it’s also “an incentive driven industry,” said Maryland Film Office Director Jack Gerbes. “When we talk to executives, they say, ‘How much do you have to give us?’
Record Number of TV Shows to Shoot in NY
(Crain’s) — New York may no longer have Law & Order, the hit series that was produced in the city and provided thousands of jobs to local actors, caterers and assorted film crew during its 20-year run, but there are a record number of new shows jockeying to fill its shoes, according to an announcement on Tuesday from the Governor’s Office for Motion Picture and Television Development. A record eight new shows will commence filming in the Empire State this year, bringing with them more than 4,700 new jobs, according to the agency. Thus far, most of the credit for the spike goes to an August 2010 extension of the state’s 30% tax credit for film production done locally, an incentive that was apparently too tempting for production companies seeking a bargain to pass up.
NJ Governor Looking to Lure Illinois Companies
(AP) — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie heads to Chicago on Friday in hopes of recruiting businesses to the Garden State. Christie has recently launched an ad campaign encouraging businesses in Illinois to relocate to New Jersey. The ads reinforce Christie’s commitment not to raise taxes. Illinois recently enacted higher taxes. Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak told The Star-Ledger of Newark and The Record’s Statehouse Bureau the purpose of the trip is for the governor to meet Illinois business leaders.
Georgia Movie Business Booming
(AJC) — A few months ago, filmmakers took over Greene’s Fine Foods in Decatur for a day. They turned the building into the fictional Daventry Hills City Hall for the Cartoon Network movie “Neverfail.” “I did it for the exposure,” owner Tommy Greene said. “And they offered to pay.” Greene received $1,000, a tiny portion of the film industry’s estimated $1.3 billion economic impact in Georgia this year. While the state’s overall economy might be stagnant, the movie business is booming locally because production companies have been offered tax breaks up to 30 percent to bring their work here. The money spins off to local restaurants, hardware stores and other businesses. Consequently, the state has urged more communities to get involved, though it is now re-examining all tax exemptions, including those for the film and TV industries.
How IHOP Qualified as a Small Business in Columbia Heights
(Washington City Paper) — Tuesday morning marked a starchy celebration on Irving Street NW in Columbia Heights: The grand opening of IHOP’s 1,500th location, complete with a dancing pancake, free short stacks of pancakes, and a Washington Monument shaped out of…you get the picture. Inside, IHOP execs visiting from California for the occasion congregated in the back room, while D.C. politicians wore royal blue IHOP cardigans and were presented with commemorative spatulas before digging into their complimentary breakfast. It’s only fitting that IHOP should be fêting the locals. The owners are, after all, benefiting from $46.9 million in tax increment financing the city earmarked to build the DCUSA shopping complex in 2006. Developer Grid Properties agreed to set aside 15,000 square feet for small, local, minority-owned businesses, which would get an approximately 30 percent discount on rent in those spaces.
State’s Film Tax Credits Aren’t a Good Deal for Residents
(Wall Street Journal) — States issuing tax credits to lure filmmakers are foregoing spending on public safety and community services in favor of pursuing entertainment-related job creation that isn’t materializing, according to a report released Wednesday. The report from the liberal-leaning research group the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities suggested state governments are being blinded by Hollywood at the expense of their own residents. “For all their generosity, film tax credits have not enabled these states to create new, stable jobs for their residents,” said Robert Tannenwald, the study’s author and a former economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
Court Sides with Taxpayers
(AJC) — The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday revived a lawsuit that claims a number of luxury Atlanta development projects have received unconstitutional tax breaks, costing the county millions of dollars in lost revenue. The 4-3 decision is a victory for John Sherman, president of the Fulton County Taxpayers Foundation. He filed the suit last year and appealed the case to the state Supreme Court after a Fulton judge dismissed it. ”It’s a wonderful ruling for the taxpayers,” Sherman said. “Giving 50-percent tax abatements to projects in wealthy areas like Midtown and Buckhead is an abomination of state law.”
Groupon Defends State Aid
(Chicago Tribune) — Groupon sees the $3.5 million incentive package Illinois recently gave the company to create 250 jobs as another sign it has arrived. In separate interviews, President Rob Solomon and Brad Keywell, who helped seed the company, cited a long list of big-name, old-economy corporations that have received tax breaks. The list implied two things: First, Groupon is now in that league. And second, a lot of companies have received help — often by committing merely to retain jobs, rather than create them. ”There’s a lot of important employers in Illinois,” Solomon said. “We want to be one of them.”
State Incentives Help Bring 400 Jobs to Area
(Chicago Sun Times) — If jobs are being “created” in these parts, it must be election season. Consider two announcements made Tuesday that cast Gov. Quinn in a starring role. In one, food ingredient company Tate & Lyle PLC said it will bring 160 jobs to Hoffman Estates by building a Commercial and Food Innovation Center. The company — maker of Splenda, high-fructose corn syrup and ethanol — has leased 110,000 square feet at 5450 Prairie Stone Pkwy., part of the development that houses Sears Holdings Corp. and other offices. Tate & Lyle will use it for research as well as a base for globetrotting executives who must have been agitating for a quicker trip to O’Hare Airport. These executives are currently in Decatur.
