Even though Montana’s individual subsidy deals hardly ever exceed a few million dollars, the state does have an arsenal of fiscal tools for subsidizing business such as no sales tax, a reduced tax rate for data centers, tax holidays for oil and natural gas companies, film incentives, and a host of corporate income tax credits and local property tax abatements.
Most programs are administered by the Department of Commerce, while the Department of Revenue oversees a few. The Montana Board of Investment reviews loan applications submitted by local governments to offset infrastructure costs required by businesses.
There is a data portal for all of Montana’s loans and grants, but there are no disclosures for tax breaks. The Department of Revenue publishes tax expenditures biennially. The Annual Comprehensive Financial Reports contain just the one tax abatement program that has an approval process. Few of Montana’s localities report tax abatements as required by Statement No. 77.
Montana does not have in place a process for evaluating incentives. It came close in 2015 when a bill passed the Legislature that would require tax credits to be reviewed prior to expiration, but the governor vetoed it.