By Alexander R. Cohen
The producers of House of Cards are learning what a house of cards they’ve built for themselves.
As part of financing its Netflix series about a less-than-idealistic politician, Media Rights Capital used Maryland tax credits targeted to the film and video industry. This year, while planning the show’s third season, MRC wrote to Maryland officials threatening to leave the state if the legislature didn’t budget enough money for tax credits for films.
Now, trying lawfully to keep your money out of the government’s claws is generally a good thing. But MRC hasn’t just been using the tax code as it found it, nor (so far as I’ve seen) has it argued that taxes should be low for everyone on principle. Rather, it has sought tax credits as special favors, by such methods as bringing star Kevin Spacey to drink with lawmakers and giving the state House speaker’s wife the chance to appear in the show.
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