If you produce, co-produce, or present live stage work in Massachusetts, it’s worth being aware of a new tax credit opportunity that might apply to you. The new Live Theater Tax Credit Pilot Program1 wrapped up its first application cycle in August 2025, offering up to $7 million in annual state tax credits for qualifying productions. The window has closed for now, but the program itself is a five-year pilot, with a new application cycle coming each of the next four years.
The credit is structured to reward productions that keep their spending in Massachusetts. Eligible applicants can receive 35% of in-state payroll costs, 25% of production and performance expenditures incurred in the Commonwealth, and 25% of transportation expenditures.2 To qualify, a production needs at least $100,000 in Massachusetts-based eligible costs, must run multiple times a week for at least one week, and must perform in a venue with 175 or more seats open to the public. The production itself must either be a Regional Professional Theater Production with a professional paid cast and crew, or be headed to Broadway, Off-Broadway, or launching a national tour. Both for-profit and nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply. The credits are transferable, meaning a nonprofit qualify for them and can sell them to another entity even if the organization doesn’t pay income taxes itself.
What makes this program worth tracking is the signal it sends. Massachusetts codified this program in statute,3 structured it as a five-year pilot with annual application cycles, and set aside $7 million per year to back it up. For now at least, Massachusetts has decided live theater is worth competing for, and that performing arts organizations are worthy of financial encouragement. Future application cycles are not guaranteed and depend on demand and program performance, but the infrastructure is in place. If your organization qualifies or could qualify with some planning, the time to start that conversation is now, not when the next application window opens.
At ioLiberum Law Firm, P.C., we work with Massachusetts arts organizations and small businesses on the legal and structural questions that programs like this raise: entity structure, co-production agreements, compliance standing, and how to position your organization to take advantage of incentives as they become available. If you want to be ready when the next cycle opens, we can help you get there.
- Massachusetts Live Theater Tax Credit Pilot Program, Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism (2025). https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massachusetts-live-theater-tax-credit-pilot-program. ↩
- Massachusetts Live Theater Tax Credit Pilot Program, Request for Proposals, Section D (Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism, 2025) (specifying eligible production cost categories and applicable credit percentages). ↩
- M.G.L. c. 23A, § 3M; c. 62, § 6(ff); c. 63, § 38QQ; 400 CMR 10.00 (codifying the Live Theater Tax Credit program and establishing a five-year pilot structure, annual credit cap of $7,000,000, and implementing regulations). ↩
