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EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
and is intended to be omitted in the law.
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 1079
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR GREGORY (21).
5522S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal section 135.750, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to a tax
credit for motion media production projects.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 135.750, RSMo, is repealed and one new 1
section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 135.750, 2
to read as follows:3
135.750. 1. This section shall be known and may be 1
referred to as the "Show MO Act". 2
2. As used in this section, the following terms mean: 3
(1) "Above-the-line individual", any individual hired 4
or credited on screen for a qualified motion media 5
production project as any type of producer, principal cast 6
that is at a Screen Actors Guild Schedule F and above 7
payment rate, screenwriter, and the director; 8
(2) "Qualified motion media production project", any 9
film or series production, including videos, commercials, 10
video games, webisodes, music videos, content-based mobile 11
applications, virtual reality, augmented reality, multi- 12
media, and new media, as well as standalone visual effects 13
and postproduction for such motion media production project, 14
as approved by the department of economic development and 15
the office of the Missouri film commission, that features a 16
statement and logo designated by the department of economic 17
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development in the credits of the completed production 18
indicating that the project was filmed in Missouri and that 19
is under thirty minutes in length with expected qualifying 20
expenses in excess of fifty thousand dollars or is over 21
thirty minutes in length with expected qualifying expenses 22
in excess of one hundred thousand dollars. Regardless of 23
the production costs, qualified motion media project shall 24
not include any: 25
(a) News or current events programming; 26
(b) Talk show; 27
(c) Production produced primarily for industrial, 28
corporate, or institutional purposes, and for internal use; 29
(d) Sports event or sports program; 30
(e) Gala presentation or awards show; 31
(f) Infomercial or any production that directly 32
solicits funds; 33
(g) Political ad; 34
(h) Production that is considered obscene, as defined 35
in section 573.010; 36
(3) "Qualifying expenses", the sum of the total amount 37
spent in this state for the following by a production 38
company in connection with a qualified motion media 39
production project: 40
(a) Goods and services leased or purchased by the 41
production company. For goods with a purchase price of 42
twenty-five thousand dollars or more, the amount included in 43
qualifying expenses shall be the purchase price less the 44
fair market value of the goods at the time the production is 45
completed; 46
(b) Compensation and wages paid by the production 47
company on which the production company remitted withholding 48
payments to the department of revenue under chapter 143. 49
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For purposes of this section, compensation and wages paid to 50
all above-the-line individuals shall be limited to twenty- 51
five percent of the overall qualifying expenses; 52
(4) "Tax credit", a credit against the tax otherwise 53
due under chapter 143, excluding withholding tax imposed by 54
sections 143.191 to 143.265, or otherwise due under chapter 55
148; 56
(5) "Taxpayer", any individual, partnership, or 57
corporation as described in section 143.441, 143.471, or 58
section 148.370 that is subject to the tax imposed in 59
chapter 143, excluding withholding tax imposed by sections 60
143.191 to 143.265, or the tax imposed in chapter 148 or any 61
charitable organization which is exempt from federal income 62
tax and whose Missouri unrelated business taxable income, if 63
any, would be subject to the state income tax imposed under 64
chapter 143. 65
3. (1) For all tax years beginning on or after 66
January 1, 2023, a taxpayer shall be allowed a tax credit 67
equal to twenty percent of qualifying expenses. 68
(2) An additional five percent may be earned for 69
qualifying expenses if at least fifty percent of the 70
qualified motion media production project is filmed in 71
Missouri. 72
(3) An additional five percent may be earned for 73
qualifying expenses if at least fifteen percent of the 74
qualified motion media production project that is filmed in 75
Missouri takes place in a rural or blighted area in Missouri. 76
(4) An additional five percent may be earned for 77
qualifying expenses if at least three departments of the 78
qualified motion media production hire a Missouri resident 79
ready to advance to the next level in a specialized craft 80
position or learn a new skillset. 81
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(5) An additional five percent may be earned for 82
qualifying expenses if the department of economic 83
development determines that the script of the qualified 84
motion media production project positively markets a city or 85
region of the state, the entire state, or a tourist 86
attraction located in the state, and the qualified motion 87
media production provides no less than five high resolution 88
photographs containing cast with the rights cleared for 89
promotional use by the Missouri film commission, accompanied 90
by a list with the title of production, location, names, and 91
titles of the individuals shown in the photography and 92
photographer credit. 93
(6) The total dollar amount of tax credits authorized 94
pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection shall be 95
increased by ten percent for qualified film production 96
projects located in a county of the second, third, or fourth 97
class. 98
(7) Activities qualifying a taxpayer for the tax 99
credit pursuant to this subsection shall be approved by the 100
office of the Missouri film commission and the department of 101
economic development. 102
4. A qualified motion media production project shall 103
not be eligible for tax credits pursuant to this section 104
unless such project employs at least the following number of 105
Missouri registered apprentices or veterans residing in 106
Missouri with transferable skills: 107
(1) If the qualifying expenses are less than five 108
million dollars, two; 109
(2) If the qualifying expenses are at least five 110
million dollars but less than ten million dollars, three; 111
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(3) If the qualifying expenses are at least ten 112
million dollars but less than fifteen million dollars, six; 113
or 114
(4) If the qualifying expenses are at least fifteen 115
million dollars, eight. 116
5. Taxpayers shall apply for the motion media 117
production tax credit by submitting an application to the 118
department of economic development, on a form provided by 119
the department. As part of the application, the expected 120
qualifying expenses of the qualified motion media production 121
project shall be documented. In addition, the application 122
shall include an economic impact statement, showing the 123
economic impact from the activities of the qualified motion 124
media production project. Such economic impact statement 125
shall indicate the impact on the region of the state in 126
which the qualified motion media production or production- 127
related activities are located and on the state as a whole. 128
Final applications shall be accompanied by a report by a 129
certified public accountant licensed by the state of 130
Missouri, prepared at the expense of the applicant, 131
attesting that the amounts in the final application are 132
qualifying expenses. 133
6. (1) For all tax years beginning on or after 134
January 1, 2023, and ending on or before December 31, 2026, 135
the total amount of tax credits authorized by this section 136
for film production shall not exceed a total of eight 137
million dollars per year, and the total amount of all tax 138
credits authorized by this section for series production 139
shall not exceed a total of eight million dollars per year. 140
Taxpayers may carry forward unused credits for up to five 141
tax periods, provided all such credits shall be claimed 142
within ten tax periods following the tax period in which the 143
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qualified motion media production or production-related 144
activities for which the credits are certified by the 145
department occurred. 146
(2) For all tax years beginning on or after January 1, 147
2027, the total amount of tax credits authorized by this 148
section for film or series production shall not exceed a 149
total of sixteen million dollars per year. Taxpayers may 150
carry forward unused credits for up to five tax periods, 151
provided all such credits shall be claimed within ten tax 152
periods following the tax period in which the qualified 153
motion media production or production-related activities for 154
which the credits are certified by the department occurred. 155
7. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the 156
contrary, any taxpayer may sell, assign, exchange, convey or 157
otherwise transfer tax credits allowed in subsection 3 of 158
this section. The taxpayer acquiring the tax credits may 159
use the acquired credits to offset the tax liabilities 160
otherwise imposed by chapter 143, excluding withholding tax 161
imposed by sections 143.191 to 143.265, or chapter 148. 162
Unused acquired credits may be carried forward for up to 163
five tax periods, provided all such credits shall be claimed 164
within ten tax periods following the tax period in which the 165
qualified motion media production or production-related 166
activities for which the credits are certified by the 167
department occurred. 168
8. The tax credit authorized by this section shall be 169
considered a business recruitment tax credit, as defined in 170
section 135.800, and shall be subject to the provisions of 171
sections 135.800 to 135.830. 172
9. The department of economic development may adopt 173
such rules, statements of policy, procedures, forms, and 174
guidelines as may be necessary to implement the provisions 175
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of this section. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that 176
term is defined in section 536.010, that is created under 177
the authority delegated in this section shall become 178
effective only if it complies with and is subject to all of 179
the provisions of chapter 536 and, if applicable, section 180
536.028. This section and chapter 536 are nonseverable and 181
if any of the powers vested with the general assembly 182
pursuant to chapter 536 to review, to delay the effective 183
date, or to disapprove and annul a rule are subsequently 184
held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking 185
authority and any rule proposed or adopted after August 28, 186
2023, shall be invalid and void. 187
10. Under section 23.253 of the Missouri sunset act: 188
(1) The provisions of the program authorized under 189
this section shall automatically sunset on December 31, 190
[2029] 2035, unless reauthorized by an act of the general 191
assembly; and 192
(2) If such program is reauthorized, the program 193
authorized under this section shall automatically sunset on 194
December thirty-first, twelve years after the effective date 195
of the reauthorization of this section; and 196
(3) This section shall terminate on September first of 197
the calendar year immediately following the calendar year in 198
which the program authorized under this section is sunset; 199
and 200
(4) The provisions of this subsection shall not be 201
construed to limit or in any way impair the department's 202
ability to redeem tax credits authorized on or before the 203
date the program authorized pursuant to this section 204
expires, or a taxpayer's ability to redeem such tax credits. 205
11. (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection 206
10 of this section to the contrary, the provisions of this 207
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section shall automatically terminate and expire one year 208
after the department of economic development determines that 209
all other state and local governments in the United States 210
of America have terminated or let lapse their tax credit or 211
other governmental incentive program for the film production 212
industry, regardless of whether such credits or programs are 213
now in effect or first commence after August 28, 2023. The 214
department of economic development shall notify the revisor 215
of statutes upon the department's determination that the tax 216
credit authorized by this section shall terminate pursuant 217
to this subsection. 218
(2) The provisions of this subsection shall not be 219
construed to limit or in any way impair the ability of any 220
taxpayer that has met the requirements in this section prior 221
to the termination of this section to participate in the 222
program authorized under this section. The provisions of 223
this section shall not be construed to limit or in any way 224
impair the department of revenue's ability to redeem tax 225
credits qualified for on or before the date the program 226
authorized pursuant to this section expires. 227
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