New Jersey Bolsters Tax Credits For Digital Media, Follows Incentives For Film And Television

deadline.com:

NJ Gov. Phil Murphy has signed legislation to expand tax credits for digital media production as part of a push to draw new business to the state following his incentives for film and television.Murphy launched a tax credit regime for film and TV in 2018 and expanded it in 2020.

It’s boosted production, attracting projects like West Side Story, The Equalizer and The Many Saints of Newark. This latest law gives the same treatment to digital media, which it didn’t define but can include a range of content from entertainment websites and digital publishing to video games.

Leading digital businesses in the state include the NBC Universal Digital Media Campus in Englewood Cliffs (where CNBC is headquartered) and Audible, owned by Amazon, which is based in Newark.The new legislation boosts the portion of the tax credit program allocated to digital media content to 30% of qualified spending in state and 35% in specific counties (Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Mercer, or Salem).

It also increases the cumulative annual limitation on digital media content production tax credits to $30 million from $10 million.“Digital media projects are just as important to the entertainment industry and economy as film projects, and deserve the same opportunities to grow and thrive in our state,” said State Senator Gordon Johnson, a sponsor of the legislation. “This law will give New Jersey an even more competitive edge by further establishing our state as an appealing destination for creative projects of all kinds.”The new legislation didn’t really tinker with film and TV credits, which are still set at 30% or 35% depending on location plus an evolving 2%-4% “diversity bonus.” The one new element in film/TV is