Broadway's Big Win: Theater Finally Gets Same Tax Breaks as TV & Film

Christmas will come early for Broadway on December 18! For the first time ever, Great White Way productions and live theater will qualify for the same tax breaks that film and TV projects receive. The result, part of a bigger tax package that you've probably been hearing ad nauseam about, should hopefully lead to new investment and create hundreds of jobs in the Big Apple and on the Main Stem.

U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer’s campaign to push the tax code tweak through involved tapping a host of Broadway faves, including Tony winners Neil Patrick Harris, Bryan Cranston and Tyne Daly.

“The Broadway and Touring Broadway industries have a combined economic impact of more than $15 billion dollars on the nation’s economy and employ tens of thousands of people in the U.S. and around the world, yet we are still very much made up of small businesses that actively seek financing from individual investors,” commented Broadway bigwig Robert E. Wankel, Chairman of the Broadway League and President & Co-CEO of “The Shuberts,” in a statement. “This relatively small amendment to the Tax Code will have a tremendous impact on the theater business.”

According to the Broadway League, Broadway attendance in the 2014-15 season reached 13.1 million; the Great White Way contributes nearly $12 billion a year to New York City’s economy on top of ticket sales and supports 87,000 local jobs.