Georgia committee approves bill to update film tax credit language and allow application fees

The Creative Arts & Entertainment Committee approved House Bill 475 on a voice vote, a bill sponsor told the panel and agency staff described how the measure would change how Georgia’s film tax credit is administered.

Representative Gamble, sponsor of House Bill 475, told the committee the bill is "simply focused to work and help the Department of Economic Development [with] the film tax credit in our state" and that it aims to clean up outdated language and clarify legislative intent. "This is not substantive change to tax policy. This is about cleanup, clarifying, and confirming," he said.

The bill deletes obsolete technical terms such as "televised" before "commercial advertisements" and the word "laserdisc," and it adds modern distribution categories including "paid subscription-based platforms" and "free advertiser-supported streaming television channels." The legislation also explicitly excludes "user-generated content distributed exclusively via social media platforms" from qualifying production activity for the film tax credit.

Josh Stevens, policy and government affairs at the Georgia Department of Economic Development, told the committee the measure would give the department authority to charge fees tied mainly to expediting or missed-deadline services rather than broad application levies. "This is simply asking for the ability to charge a fee," Stevens said, adding that the fees would be focused on expediting and missed-deadline scenarios.

Agency staff also told the committee the state still certifies hundreds of projects each year. "In a good year, we would certify about 420 projects but there may be another hundred or so that we do not certify for one reason or another," Lee Thomas, director of the Georgia Film Office, said. Thomas and other staff said the fee authority would be intended to preserve otherwise qualifying projects that miss administrative deadlines, allowing applicants to pay a fee instead of losing the entire credit.

Committee members asked about litigation costs tied to appeals of agency decisions. Stevens said litigation costs to the state that are paid to the Office of Administrative Hearings have "added up over time" and provided a ballpark figure: "Standard fee. 8,000. Okay. 8,000. 8 thousand," he said when asked for a rough per-case figure.

Representative Gamble told the committee the bill also codifies department rulemaking authority regarding which distribution types qualify for the credit, and it sets documentation and deadline expectations tied to the program.

After questions from members about the scope and intent of the changes, the committee moved and then approved the bill by voice vote. The record shows a voice approval but does not include a roll-call tally in the transcript.

Why it matters: The changes remove obsolete terminology from statute, update the definition of qualifying distribution methods for modern streaming platforms, clarify that single-person social-media posts are not eligible production activity, and give the Georgia Department of Economic Development the authority to charge narrowly tailored fees for processing, expediting or missed-deadline remedies. Those clarifications affect how productions and vendors apply for and preserve state film tax credits.

The committee approved the measure; the transcript does not record the bill’s next procedural step in this excerpt.