On October 27, 2011, Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed into law HB 6801, An Act Promoting Economic Growth and Job Creation in the State. The bill includes loans to small businesses, tax credits for new hires and job training.

It also includes a section devoted to Film Production Credits.

Section 53-55 expands the types of qualified productions that are eligible for film production tax credits to include “relocated television productions.” Specifically, it defines a relocated television production as an eligible production company's ongoing television program that:

(1) has filmed all of its prior seasons outside Connecticut,

(2) may now include certain current events shows (general news programs, sporting events, and game broadcasts are excluded), and

(3) is created at a qualified production facility that meets specified investment and job creation thresholds on or after January 1, 2012.

Productions featuring current events were not previously eligible for film production tax credits.

The bill also expands the types of tax credits a taxpayer may use to reduce its insurance premium tax liability by up to 55% in 2011 and 2012 to include film production and infrastructure investment tax credits. Under previous law, the premium tax liability offset for such credits was 30% for 2011 and 2012.

The bill also modifies how taxpayers holding film infrastructure tax credits may claim the credits. Previous law allowed taxpayers claiming film infrastructure tax credits to carry forward excess credits for three income years. The bill allows taxpayers to claim all or part of the tax credits either in the income year in which the infrastructure investments were made, or in any of the three immediately succeeding income years. (Note that by law, and unchanged by the bill, taxpayers to which a film infrastructure tax credit has already been assigned (i. e., sold or transferred) may claim the credit only in the year in which the investments were made.)