Each year, we leave it to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to sort out the best picture, best actor and best director.
But when it comes to who deserves an Oscar for finagling the fattest tax break, we don’t need to open an envelope. Our friends at e21 — Economic Policies for the 21st Century — have crunched the numbers. They say there’s no contest: In this category, “The Wolf of Wall Street” walks away with the gilded statuette.
That’s because the Leonardo DiCaprio flick was made in the Empire State, which offers a 30 percent, fully refundable tax credit. Given the $100 million in production costs for “Wolf,” that means New Yorkers paid as much as $30 million to subsidize this Hollywood enterprise. Though other nominated films also enjoyed tax breaks, the generosity of the New York credit plus the size of the production accounts for the film’s Oscar here.
As the e21 researchers say, whoever ends up winning Sunday night, we already know the loser: New York taxpayers.