Bill > S364

This bill, known as the STAGE Act (Support Theaters in America Growth and Expansion Act), aims to extend tax incentives to certain live theatrical productions by amending the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. Specifically, it modifies Section 181 of the code to allow for the expensing of qualified live theatrical productions, similar to how qualified film and television productions are treated. A "qualified live theatrical production" is defined as a live staged play, with or without music, derived from a written script, produced by a commercial entity in venues with a capacity of 3,000 or fewer people, and where at least 75 percent of the total compensation is "qualified compensation" (a term defined elsewhere in the code related to production expenses). The bill also clarifies that separate phases or simultaneous stagings of the same production in different locations can be treated as separate productions for tax purposes, and it excludes productions involving certain types of prohibited conduct. Additionally, the bill amends Section 469 of the code to treat interests in qualified live theatrical productions as passive activities, with each phase of a production being considered separately for disposition purposes, meaning the termination of a phase can be treated as the disposition of the taxpayer's entire interest in that passive activity. These changes are generally effective for productions commencing after December 31, 2014.