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HB 1880

Income tax; authorize tax credit for companies engaged in television productions.

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Trey Lamar

Authorizes a Mississippi-style television production tax credit/rebate to reduce tax liability for eligible in-state productions with at least $4M in qualified expenditures and 65%

Died In Conference
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Bill Summary · HB 1880

Summary — HB 1880 (Television production tax credit)

Note on sources: The file provided contains multiple different bills titled “HB 1880” from different states (including an Illinois phosphorus trading bill and Arkansas statutory changes). This summary focuses on the television-production income tax credit measure (the Mississippi-style text) because it matches the bill title you provided: “Income tax; authorize tax credit for companies engaged in television productions.” The measure ultimately did not become law (status: Died in Conference).

Main purpose

Authorize a new Mississippi state income tax credit (and alternate rebate option) to incent television production activity in-state by reducing tax liability for production companies that meet eligibility and investment thresholds.

Key provisions

  • Definitions: establishes terms for “employee,” “fringes,” “payroll,” “production company,” “qualified expenditures,” “state-certified production,” and “television production.”
  • Eligibility threshold: production companies must expend at least $4,000,000 in qualified expenditures in the state on a state-certified production and have at least 65% of the production’s running time derived from activities in Mississippi.
  • Credit structure (aggregate credit limited to 25% of qualified expenditures):
    • 20% credit of payroll + fringes for nonresident employees (wages subject to MS withholding), capped such that only the first $3,000,000 of payroll/fringes per employee (per the text) may be used to calculate the credit.
    • 30% credit of payroll + fringes for resident employees (wages subject to MS withholding), with the same $3,000,000 cap.
    • 25% credit of qualified expenditures that are subject to taxes under Chapter 65, Title 27 (also capped at $3,000,000 of such expenditures for credit purposes).
  • Qualified expenditures: expenses actually incurred and paid in Mississippi and subject to payroll or specified state taxes. Expenditures used to claim this credit may not also be used to claim certain other state rebates (e.g., Mississippi Motion Picture Incentive Act).
  • Proration: where production activity occurs both in and outside the state, payroll eligibility is prorated by the percentage of activity performed in Mississippi.
  • Carryforward and rebate options:
    • Excess credit (over state income tax liability) may be carried forward up to 10 years.
    • Alternatively, a production company may elect a rebate equal to 75% of the would‑be credit amount (procedures and reductions apply if a credit was previously used).
  • Pass-through entities: credits earned by partnerships, LLCs taxed as partnerships, S corps, etc., are allocated among owners; pass-through entities may be subject to special rules for rebates/credits.
  • Certification and administration: productions must be approved as “state-certified” by the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) before production begins; MDA will administer certification and related processes.
  • Exclusions/limitations: productions containing material defined in MS Code §97-29-103 (pornographic material) are excluded; production companies in certain state-default or insolvency situations are excluded.

Who is affected

  • Production companies (eligible to claim credits or rebates).
  • Employees and contractors working on productions (resident vs. nonresident payroll treatments differ).
  • Mississippi Development Authority and state revenue agencies (administration, certification, revenue accounting).
  • State budget/treasury (potential revenue loss due to credits/rebates and increased economic activity).

Anticipated impact

  • Incentivizes larger television projects to film/post-produce in-state, potentially increasing local production spending, hiring, and secondary economic activity (hotels, services, vendors).
  • Fiscal impact: would reduce state tax receipts relative to baseline (through credits or rebates); may be partially offset by increased sales, payroll tax collections, and economic growth. Exact fiscal effect would require a revenue estimate.
  • Administrative workload: MDA and tax authorities would need procedures for certification, audit, proration, carryforwards, and rebate processing.

Procedural status

  • Introduced/Filed (various dates in early 2025 in the provided materials).
  • Advanced through certain committee and floor steps in one chamber (text shows committee actions, amendments, and conferee appointments).
  • Final status in the record: Died in Conference (March 2025) — the bill did not become law in this session.

If you want, I can:
- Produce a concise fiscal impact checklist for budget staff, or
- Compare this proposal to similar production tax credit programs in other states (structure, caps, rebate vs. transferable credit).

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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