AB2403 - Income tax: credits: commercial production.

Amended IN Senate July 02, 2026 Amended IN Assembly April 13, 2026 Amended IN Assembly March 19, 2026 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Assembly Bill No. 2403 Introduced by Assembly Member Elhawary (Coauthors: Assembly Members Schiavo, Garcia, Harabedian, Mark González, and Quirk-Silva) February 20, 2026 An act to add and repeal Sections 17053.98.5 and 23698.5 to 17053.98.2 and 23698.2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, relating to taxation, to take effect immediately, tax levy. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2403, as amended, Elhawary. Income tax: credits: commercial production. The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws, including numerous motion picture credits. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2027, and before January 1, 2032, would allow a credit against the taxes imposed by those laws to a qualified taxpayer that produces qualified commercials, as defined, in the state in an amount equal to 20% or 30% of the qualified production costs in excess of $500,000 that are attributable to the production of a qualified commercial, as specified. The bill would exclude any commercial that is created entirely by generative artificial intelligence, as specified, or that utilizes generative artificial intelligence, automated technologies, intelligence or autonomous vehicles in a manner that replaces or diminishes the job functions customarily performed by a human worker in the production. The bill would require the qualified commercial to adhere to specified labor standards. The bill would require the California Film Commission to establish an application process and allocate the credits on or after July 1 each year, in accordance with certain requirements. The bill would limit the aggregate amount of credits that may be allocated for a fiscal year under these provisions to $15,000,000. The bill would require specified certifications under penalty of perjury. By expanding the scope of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill would include additional information required for any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YES Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. Section 17053.98.5 is added to the Revenue and Taxation Code , to read: 17053.98.5. SECTION 1. Section 17053.98.2 is added to the Revenue and Taxation Code, to read: 17053.98.2. (a) For taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2027, and before January 1, 2032, there shall be allowed to a qualified taxpayer a credit against the “net tax,” as defined in Section 17039, subject to the requirements of this section, in an amount equal to the following, as applicable: (1) Twenty percent of the qualified production costs in excess of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) that are attributable to the production of a qualified commercial, if the qualified commercial is filmed inside the Los Angeles zone, as defined in Section 17053.98.1. (2) Thirty percent of the qualified production costs in excess of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) that are attributable to the production of a qualified commercial, if the qualified commercial is filmed outside the Los Angeles zone, but within the state, as defined in Section 17053.98.1. (3) For purposes of this subdivision, if qualified production costs attributable to a single qualified commercial are incurred both inside and outside the Los Angeles zone, the qualified commercial shall be treated as filmed inside the Los Angeles zone if 50 percent or more of the qualified production costs incurred in the state are attributable to costs incurred inside the Los Angeles zone, and shall otherwise be treated as filmed outside the Los Angeles zone. A single qualified commercial shall be eligible for only one credit percentage under this subdivision. (b) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply: (1) “Advertisement” means an openly and identifiably sponsored public promotion or announcement of goods, services, companies, or ideas. For the purposes of this definition, advertisement shall not include music videos or infomercials. (2) “Generative artificial intelligence” means a computational system or model capable of generating text, images, audio, video, performances, or other expressive content based on training data, algorithms, or machine learning techniques, without direct contemporaneous creative control by a natural person over the expressive output. an artificial intelligence system that can generate derived synthetic content, including text, images, video, and audio that emulate the structure and characteristics of the system’s training data. (3) (A) “Qualified commercial” means an advertisement that satisfies the requirements of subdivisions (c), (d), and (e) and is recorded on film, audiotape, videotape, or digital medium in the state for multimarket distribution by way of radio, television networks, cable, satellite, motion picture theaters, or internet. produced in whole or in substantial part within the state for public distribution through any audiovisual media, communications platform, or technology, whether now existing or hereafter developed. (B) “Qualified commercial” shall include a package of commercials which includes two or more commercials that are bid and produced under a single agency or client contract in which a specified number of deliverables are produced together within a defined timeframe by a qualified commercial production company. (C) “Qualified commercial” shall not include any of the following: (i) A news or current affairs program, interview or talk program, network promotional, such as a commercial promoting a television series or movie, “how-to” or instructional commercial or program, commercial or program consisting entirely of stock footage, trailer promoting a theatrical film, sporting event or sporting program, game show, award ceremony, or daytime drama, including a daytime soap opera or reality program. (ii) A production involving sexually explicit conduct subject to the recordkeeping requirements of Section 2257 of Title 18 of the United States Code. (iii) A commercial of more than three minutes in length, unless specifically exempted by the California Film Commission or a valid collective bargaining agreement governing the employees whose work may be affected. This clause shall not exclude a package of commercials if each commercial is not more than three minutes in length. (4) “Qualified commercial production company” means a person that meets both of the following requirements: (A) Is responsible for the direct payment of production expenses and is a signatory to the qualified commercial’s contracts with its payroll company and facility operators. (B) Is neither the distributor or the contracting entity for production of the qualified commercial described in subparagraph (A), nor a variable interest entity of the distributor or contracting entity. (5) (A) “Qualified production costs” means all expenditures made in the state directly attributable to the production of a qualified commercial. (B) “Qualified production costs” shall not include either of the following: (i) Costs for a story, script, or scenario to be used for a qualified commercial. (ii) Wages, salaries, or other compensation for writers, directors, including music directors, producers, and performers other than musicians and background actors with no scripted lines who are employed by a qualified company. (6) “Qualified taxpayer” means a qualified commercial production company that produces qualified commercials in the state and is allocated a credit by the California Film Commission pursuant to this section. (c) (1) A production shall not be deemed a qualified commercial and shall not be eligible for the credit if either of the following are true: (A) The commercial is created entirely by means of generative artificial intelligence. For purposes of this subparagraph, a commercial is deemed to be created entirely by means of generative artificial intelligence if both of the following are satisfied: (i) All principal expressive elements, including, but not limited to, script, dialogue, visual imagery, animation, performances, voices, music, and sound design, are generated by generative artificial intelligence. (ii) No natural person performs a principal creative role in the origination, performance, or fixation of those expressive elements, other than de minimis technical prompting, selection, or compilation. (B) The commercial utilizes generative artificial intelligence, automated technologies, intelligence or autonomous vehicles vehicles, as defined in Section 38750 of the Vehicle Code, in a manner that replaces or diminishes the job functions customarily performed by a human worker in the production. (2) This subdivision shall not exclude a production from eligibility for any of the following: (A) Use of generative artificial intelligence as a tool in support of human creative decisionmaking. (B) Use of artificial intelligence-assisted processes in preproduction, production, or postproduction, provided that natural persons exercise principal creative control. (C) Incorporation of artificial intelligence for technical, logistical, or efficiency purposes that do not replace principal creative roles performed by natural persons. (D) Use of generative artificial intelligence, automated technologies, or autonomous vehicles, to the extent such use is authorized by, and carried out in accordance with, a valid collective bargaining agreement governing the employees whose work may be affected. (d) (1) The production of a qualified commercial shall do all of the following: (A) Demonstrate as part of the application process established pursuant to subdivision (f) that the production is in compliance with applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations. (B) Provide wages for employees in California that are equal to or more than the average weekly wage rate for similar workers in the same occupation. (C) Provide health insurance benefits for all employees. (D) Provide a defined-benefit pension for all employees. (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a production that is a party to, and in compliance with, a valid collective bargaining agreement covering the employees of the production shall be deemed to satisfy the requirements of this subdivision. (e) The production of a qualified commercial shall comply with the following requirements: (1) At least 75 percent of the production costs paid or incurred directly and predominantly in the actual filming or recording of the qualified commercial are costs incurred in California. (2) The total qualified production costs of a qualified production company are greater than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) in the aggregate during the calendar year. (f) For purposes of this section, the California Film Commission shall do all of the following: (1) Establish an application process and allocate tax credits to applicants in accordance with the following: (A) A qualified production company may submit a credit application to the California Film Commission between January 1 and April 1 of the calendar year succeeding the year in which the production of the qualified commercial occurred. (B) The application shall be submitted in a form and manner determined by the California Film Commission. (C) The California Film Commission shall approve applications and, on and after July 1, 2027, and before July 1, 2032, in four or more allocation periods per fiscal year, allocate credit amounts to applicants. (2) (A) Require, as part of the application process, a certification under penalty of perjury that the production is not created entirely by means of generative artificial intelligence intelligence, as described in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (c), and that the labor standards described in subdivision subdivisions (c) and (d) are satisfied. (B) For purposes of verifying compliance with the requirements of subdivision (d), this section, the California Film Commission may require the following documentation: applicant to provide all of the following: (i) Payroll records. (ii) Benefit contribution reports. (iii) Copies of applicable collective bargaining agreements. (iv) Attestations from payroll service providers. (v) Other documentation that the California Film Commission may deem necessary to verify compliance with the requirements of this section. (3) Adopt regulations to implement this section. The adoption, amendment, repeal, or readoption of a regulation authorized by this section is deemed to address an emergency, for purposes of Sections 11346.1 and 11349.6 of the Government Code, and the California Film Commission is hereby exempted for this purpose from the requirements of subdivision (b) of Section 11346.1 of the Government Code. For purposes of subdivision (e) of Section 11346.1 of the Government Code, the 180-day period, as applicable to the effective period of an emergency regulatory action and submission of specified materials to the Office of Administrative Law, is hereby extended to 240 days. (g) (1) (A) A deduction otherwise allowed under this part for any amount paid or incurred by the qualified taxpayer that is the basis for the credit allowed by this section shall be reduced by the amount of the credit allowed. (B) The credit allowed by this section shall be in lieu of any other credit that the taxpayer may otherwise claim pursuant to this part with respect to qualified production costs. (2) If the amount of the credit allowed by this section exceeds the “tax” for the taxable year, the excess may be carried over to reduce the “tax” in the following taxable year, and succeeding five taxable years if necessary, until the credit has been exhausted. (3) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the California Film Commission shall not allocate to any one qualified taxpayer, in any fiscal year, credit amounts under this section that, in the aggregate, exceed 20 percent of the aggregate amount available for allocation for that fiscal year under subdivision (g). (h) The California Film Commission shall adopt regulations to implement this section. The regulations sh [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]