Taxpayers May Pony Up $8.4 Million for Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Django Unchained’

A new report by the Government Accountability Institute (GAI) says Quentin Tarantino’s Oscar-winning film, Django Unchained, has applied for an estimated $8.4 million in tax credits, pending audit and review by the state of Louisiana.

News of the taxpayer-funded subsidies comes as the controversial, n-word riddled spaghetti western has now grossed $365,584,000 worldwide.   

Django Unchained’s director and lead actors, Jamie Foxx and Leonardo DiCaprio, each supported President Barack Obama’s reelection; Tarantino and DiCaprio both donated $5,000 to President Barack Obama, and Jamie Foxx hailed Obama as “our Lord and Savior” during last year’s BET Soul Train Awards. 

But the core theme of Obama’s presidential campaign was forcing the wealthy “one percent” to pay their “fair share” by increasing taxes, not rebating them in the form of film tax credits.

Each year, the 40 states with film tax credit and subsidy programs shell out $1.51 billion.  Film tax credits may be used to defray income and sales taxes incurred during a film or TV production. Some states allow leftover tax credits to be converted into cash that filmmakers can keep–paid for by taxpayers.

Django Unchained took home two Oscars last night.