CS/CS/HB 697 Summary

• Restructures the entertainment industry financial incentive program to provide corporate income tax and sales/use tax credits to qualified entertainment entities instead of reimbursements from appropriations.

• Establishes three production queues with dedicated credit allocations: 94% for general productions (up to $8 million per production), 3% for commercials and music videos (up to $500,000), and 3% for independent and emerging media productions (up to $625,000 in qualified expenditures).

• Provides 20% tax credits on qualified in-state expenditures, with additional 5% credits for off-season productions and family-friendly productions, subject to $650,000 per resident worker compensation cap.

• Requires productions to employ at least 50-60% Florida resident cast and crew (75% for digital media projects), complete certification before principal photography begins, and obtain independent audits of actual qualified expenditures.

• Authorizes one-time transfers of unused credits to up to four corporate income tax transferees or one sales tax transferee, with 5-year carryforward periods and automatic program repeal on July 1, 2015.