> That’s they spent 10 dollars to save 3 dollars in taxes?
Yes, exactly. You're forgetting Hollywood accounting. Spending 1 dollars to somebody, 9 dollars to your other companies and saving 3 dollars later is netting you 2 dollars.
Those other companies are often either incorporated in tax havens, or they have a ton of companies with various forms of tax breaks/incentives.
So where I live, for example, they get transferrable Georgia tax credits during the making of the film. Doesn't matter if you lose money, go bankrupt, etc.
It's based on expenses.
Because they are transferrable, they sell the tax credits (They sell for 80-90 cents on the dollar, so buying them lowers the cost of paying your taxes).
So to your middle point, they can in fact, pay no taxes but end up with plenty of tax credits to sell.
Before you ask, earning state tax credits is not federally taxable - it is treated as a reduction in your state tax liability, not as income to the companies that earn them.
Yes, exactly. You're forgetting Hollywood accounting. Spending 1 dollars to somebody, 9 dollars to your other companies and saving 3 dollars later is netting you 2 dollars.