Tax Incentives for the Creative Industries

This book combines insights from cultural economics, public finance, and tax law, providing an accessible and comprehensive introduction in the application of tax incentives for the creative industries. It does not have a single-country focus, but instead uses the perspective and examples of various countries around the world. The book starts with a theoretical part, introducing the concepts of creative industries and of tax incentives. In the globalized and digitalized world in which the creative industries operate, restrictions imposed by guidelines on harmful tax competition and state aid and regulations influencing the (im)possibility of applying tax incentives in cross-border situations have a great impact. For that reason these legal concepts are discussed as well in the theoretical part. The theoretical part is followed by a part that focuses on tax incentives for specific sectors of the creative industries, inter alia museums and cultural heritage, films, television and videogames, cultural investments, performing artists, and crafts and design. This part uses insightful examples from various countries to illustrate the application of these tax incentives. The last part includes policy recommendations on how tax incentives can be applied in an effective and efficient way for the creative industries. As the book takes both an academic and a practical approach, it is of relevance both to researchers and students and to policy makers and readers involved in the creative industry who seek an in-depth and up-to-date overview of this alternative way in which governments support the creative industries.

Editors

Sigrid Hemels received her Ph.D. in tax incentives for the arts from Leiden University in the Netherlands in 2005. She is full professor of tax law, Erasmus School of Law (ESL), Erasmus University Rotterdam; programme leader of the ESL Research Programme Fiscal Autonomy and Its Boundaries; and head of the ESL Department of Tax Law. She is also senior professional support lawyer at the Amsterdam office of Allen & Overy LLP and a member of the supervisory boards of several Dutch cultural institutions. Dr. Hemels frequently publishes and lectures, both in the Netherlands and abroad, on various tax topics, including tax incentives for charities, art, and cultural heritage.

Kazuko Goto received her Ph.D. in economics from Kyoto University in 1998. She was professor at Saitama University, 2004–2014, and visiting professor at Erasmus University Rotterdam, 2004–2005. At present, she is a professor at Setsunan University in Osaka, where she has been since 2014. She was an executive board member of the Association for Cultural Economics International, 2006–2012. Prof. Goto also was editor in chief of Bunka Keizaigaku (Cultural Economics), 2006–2010, and was president of the Japan Association for Cultural Economics, 2010–2012. She has been an executive board member of the Japan Institute of Public Finance since 2016. Currently, she researches on creative industries from the point of view of tax incentives, copyright, and regional development. She also serves as a member of various committees in national and local governments and contributes to policy making.