- Rep. Laura Friedman introduced a proposal for a 20 percent federal film and television tax credit on qualifying U.S. production labor.
- Four bonus routes could raise the credit to 30 percent, including rural filming and independent production.
- Eligible productions would need budgets above one million dollars and 75 percent of principal photography days in the U.S.
Rep. Laura Friedman announced a bill on September 24, 2026, that would establish a 20% federal film and television tax credit for qualifying U.S. production labor. Bonus credits could lift the proposed rate to 30%.
The legislation sets domestic-work tests. Productions would need to cost more than $1 million and shoot at least 75% of principal photography days in the United States. Post-production and visual-effects work would qualify when 75% of those costs occur domestically.
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Producers could sell unused credit value to another taxpayer. That provision is designed to let productions benefit even when they do not owe enough federal tax to use the credit themselves.
The bill, the Motion Picture, Television, and Entertainment Revitalization Act, has sponsors in both chambers and parties. Friedman, a California Democrat, announced it with House lead sponsor Rep. Nathaniel Moran, a Texas Republican; Rep. Linda Sánchez, a California Democrat; and Rep. Brian Jack, a Georgia Republican.
The Senate effort was introduced by Sen. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican, and co-led by Sen. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat. Friedman’s release also listed Reps. Judy Chu, a California Democrat; Mike Carey, an Ohio Republican; and Tom Suozzi, a New York Democrat, among House leaders.
The measure would cover productions beginning in taxable years after December 31, 2026. The Senate sponsors’ release said the bill followed President Trump’s call for Congress to create a federal production incentive.
Friedman’s office projected the proposal would generate 143,500 full-time equivalent jobs annually nationwide. Her office presented the bill as a way to bring hundreds of thousands of production jobs back to the United States. Scott’s office framed it as a response to production leaving for countries with stronger incentives.
The proposal ties the credit to domestic spending and production days
The base credit applies to American labor expenses, not every production cost. The proposal sets separate location tests for filming and post-production work.
| Requirement | Proposed threshold |
|---|---|
| Production budget | More than $1 million |
| Principal photography | At least 75% of days in the United States |
| Post-production and visual effects | At least 75% of costs incurred in the United States |
The tests define which productions could claim the labor credit. Projects that fail the budget or location requirements would not meet the proposal’s stated eligibility rules.
Four bonus routes could add up to 10 percentage points
Each qualifying bonus would add 5 percentage points to the base rate. The bill identifies four ways to earn an uplift, allowing the combined credit to reach 30%.
| Bonus route | Proposed condition |
|---|---|
| Rural or disaster-area filming | At least 30% of principal photography days in a rural opportunity zone or federally declared disaster area |
| Independent production | Production qualifies as independent |
| Multi-state spending | At least $10 million in qualified compensation across 10 or more states |
| Increased domestic production | Domestic production rises relative to a historical foreign base amount |
The provisions reward different production choices. One is tied to where filming happens, another to a project’s independent status, and two to spending or production levels.
The proposal also allows producers to transfer credit value by selling it to another taxpayer. A production with too little federal tax liability to use the credit directly could therefore sell the unused value instead.
The bill leaves news, sports and advertising outside the program
The eligible-production framework excludes several kinds of programming and commercial work. The list includes news, live sports, talk shows, daytime dramas and soap operas, social media content, advertising and corporate videos.
Those exclusions narrow the proposal to qualifying film, television and visual-effects production. The labor, budget and location tests would still apply to projects within those categories.
The proposal follows years of debate over production moving abroad
Hollywood has pressed for a federal production incentive for years as projects shifted to countries including Canada and the United Kingdom. Those countries offer more generous labor-based incentives, which can be combined with local programs.
The proposed federal credit could also be stacked with state incentives. That would put the federal offer alongside existing state-level support rather than replace it.
Before the bill’s introduction, a federal labor credit in the range of 15% to 20% had been under discussion in early September 2026. The legislation turns that discussion into a proposal with a 20% base rate and bonus routes that could take the total to 30%.
The package has been described as a long-sought goal for Hollywood because it would create the first broad federal film and television production incentive in the United States. Its proposed start date is tied to when productions begin, in taxable years after December 31, 2026.
