Ohio Doubles Film Tax Credit

In good news for Ohio filmmakers, the General Assembly recently passed legislation to double Ohio's film making tax incentive in order to encourage big-budget films to be shot in the Buckeye State.

From the Columbus Dispatch:

The legislation, passed by the Ohio General Assembly and signed by Kasich last month, will go into effect at the end of September. In addition to doubling the incentive cap, the law removes the $5 million cap for each project and raises the incentive rate to 30 percent of production dollars spent in Ohio.

Since 2011, when the state increased the tax credit to $20 million, 1,729 full-time jobs have been created and more than $400 million in total economic impact has been generated, according to the Ohio Department of Development.

In addition to the state tax credit, Section 181 of the Internal Revenue Code includes various federal incentives for filmmakers. Congress has extended these incentives through the end of 2016.

A previous blog post has additional information on the tax incentives available to filmmakers.

Just The Facts, Ma'am: Recording an Affidavit Related to Title

Ohio law permits anyone knowledgeable about facts which may affect the title to property to record an Affidavit of Facts Relating to Title with the county recorder.  This affidavit serves as evidence of facts and matters that have a bearing on title to the property.

The statute allows the affiant to state facts about a wide variety of matters, such as birth and death, the identity of parties, possession of the property, the location of physical features such as fences or streams and, most broadly, "[t]he happening of any condition or event that may create or terminate an estate or interest" in the property.

An Affidavit of Facts Relating to Title warns potential purchasers that another party may have an interest in the real estate.  Before purchasing a property, it is wise to do a comprehensive title search to ensure that you will receive clean title to the real estate.