State-by-state production incentives
West Virginia
| West Virginia | |
| Incentive Type | Transferable tax credit |
| Incentives Highlights | 27% transferable tax credit for all labor and qualified purchases, plus an additional 4% for resident labor and talent. The state also offers an exemption from sales tax on qualified projects. |
| Eligible Projects | Films, television films, series, commercials, music videos and commercial still photography |
| Minimum Spend | $25,000 |
| Production Cap or Annual Cap | $10M annual program cap. No project caps. |
| Application/Reporting Requirements | Productions must pre-apply with the state. Must begin principal within 120 days of approval. |
| Loan-Out Reg Required? | Yes |
| CPA Audit? | Yes |
West Virginia Film Office
Pam Haynes, Director
Pamela.J.Haynes@wv.gov
t: (304)-957-9382
f: (304) 558-1662
www.wvfilm.com
OVERVIEW
The West Virginia incentive provides a base transferable tax credit of 27% on all labor, talent, rentals and purchases in the state, plus a 4% bonus for hiring 10 or more resident labor and talent. The incentive applies to both resident and non-resident wages for talent, management and labor, provided that wages are subject to WV income tax; there are no caps on talent.
DETAILS
The current incentive is a transferable income tax credit with limitations, as noted above. The incentive is essentially a 27% tax credit on all direct production expenditures (for pre-production, production and post-production), including all labor and talent
that is subject to taxation by the state of West Virginia. By hiring 10 or more residents (talent and/or crew), it is possible to increase the total allowable credit by an additional 4%, bringing the maximum credit to 31%. The minimum expenditure requirement is $25,000 and the state is limited to approving no more than $10 million per year. Payments to a personal service corporation (“PSC”) for out-of-state talent can qualify if the PSC and the individual/talent pays West Virginia income tax on the payment and fees earned.
If the credit exceeds the current year tax liability, the excess may be carried forward for two years, after which it expires.
A television series that has been approved and issued an approval letter shall be placed at the top of the queue for an open allocation period on each subsequent year in the life of that series whenever credits are assigned within a fiscal year. Queue placement in subsequent years will be based on the year of original application and original queue number assigned for that series. Each TV series must submit a new application for each season prior to any open application period.
West Virginia also offers an exemption from sales tax for qualified productions such as films, television programs, commercials and, music videos. Purchases and rentals of tangible personal property, in addition to the purchase of services, directly used in a qualified production are exempt from the 6% sales and service tax.
Lodging stays in excess of thirty consecutive days are exempt from both the sales/service tax (6%) and the local hotel/motel tax (varies by region). The Film Office may be able to negotiate discounts, e.g., discounted location fees, office space rental, lodging, vehicle rentals, etc.
There are both on-line and downloadable production resources directories available on the website.