STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6498 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY March 8, 2019 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. CRESPO, DICKENS, PICHARDO, PERRY, DAVILA, PRET- LOW, SIMON, JAFFEE, LIFTON, MOSLEY, ARROYO -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. GALEF -- read once and referred to the Committee on Ways and Means AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to a television writers' and directors' fees and salaries credit The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The tax law is amended by adding a new section 24-b to read 2 as follows: 3 § 24-b. Television writers' and directors' fees and salaries credit. 4 (a)(1) A taxpayer which is a qualified film production company, or a 5 qualified independent film production company, or which is a sole 6 proprietor of or a member of a partnership which is a qualified film 7 production company or a qualified independent film production company, 8 and which is subject to tax under articles nine-A or twenty-two of this 9 chapter, shall be allowed a credit against such tax, pursuant to the 10 provisions referenced in subdivision (d) of this section, to be computed 11 as hereinafter provided. 12 (2) No qualified television writers' and directors' fees and salaries 13 used by a taxpayer either as the basis for the allowance of the credit 14 provided for pursuant to this section or used in the calculation of the 15 credit provided pursuant to this section shall be used by such taxpayer 16 to claim any other credit allowed pursuant to this chapter. 17 (b) Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms shall 18 have the following meanings: 19 (1) "Qualified film production company" is a corporation, partnership, 20 limited partnership, or other entity or individual which or who is prin- 21 cipally engaged in the production of a qualified film and controls the 22 qualified film during production. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD10303-01-9A. 6498 2 1 (2) "Qualified independent film production company" is a corporation, 2 partnership, limited partnership, or other entity or individual, that or 3 who (i) is principally engaged in the production of a qualified film 4 with a maximum budget of fifteen million dollars, (ii) controls the 5 qualified film during production, and (iii) either is not a publicly 6 traded entity, or no more than five percent of the beneficial ownership 7 of which is owned, directly or indirectly, by a publicly traded entity. 8 (3) "Qualified television writers' and directors' fees and salaries" 9 means: (i) for each writer or director who receives an on-air credit, 10 fifty thousand dollars in fees or salary per episode; (ii) for each 11 non-credited writer, seventy-five thousand dollars per series of 12 episodes; and (iii) for each eligible writer or director, an overall 13 total of one hundred fifty thousand dollars per series per season. 14 Provided that in each case, such writer or director is a minority group 15 member, as defined by subdivision eight of section three hundred ten of 16 the executive law, or a woman, and provided, further, that any writer or 17 director who is a profit participant in the qualified production shall 18 not be eligible. 19 (4) "Writer" means a writer who is employed or retained to write or 20 revise scripts, screenplays, teleplays, dialogue, sketches, routines or 21 narrations and who reports to work regularly in a writers room located 22 in the state. 23 (5) "Director" means the individual employed or retained to direct the 24 production, as the word "direct" is commonly used in the motion picture 25 industry. 26 (6) "Writers room" means a room or physical location where television 27 stories are conceived by writers. 28 (7) "Profit participant" is an individual who has negotiated for a 29 percentage of profits generated by their television show. Profit partic- 30 ipation does not include monies contractually required by collectively 31 bargained agreements for reuse of the program on different platforms 32 over time. 33 (c) Cross-references. For application of the credit provided for in 34 this section, see the following provisions of this chapter: 35 (1) article 9-A: section 210-B: subdivision 53. 36 (2) article 22: section 606: subsection (v). 37 (d) Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter, (i) employees and 38 officers of the department of economic development and the department 39 shall be allowed and are directed to share and exchange information 40 regarding the credits applied for, allowed, or claimed pursuant to this 41 section and taxpayers who are applying for credits or who are claiming 42 credits, including information contained in or derived from credit claim 43 forms submitted to the department and applications for certification 44 submitted to the department of economic development, and (ii) the 45 commissioner and the commissioner of the department of economic develop- 46 ment may release the names and addresses of any taxpayer claiming this 47 credit and the amount of the credit earned by the taxpayer. Provided, 48 however, if a taxpayer claims this credit because it is a member of a 49 limited liability company or a partner in a partnership, only the amount 50 of credit earned by the entity and not the amount of credit claimed by 51 the taxpayer may be released. 52 (e) Maximum amount of credits. (1) The aggregate amount of tax credits 53 allowed under this section, subdivision fifty-three of section two 54 hundred ten-B and subsection (v) of section six hundred six of this 55 chapter in any calendar year shall be five million dollars. Such aggre- 56 gate amount of credits shall be allocated by the department of economicA. 6498 3 1 development among taxpayers in order of priority based upon the date of 2 filing an application for allocation of television writers' and direc- 3 tors' fees and salaries credit with such department. If the total amount 4 of allocated credits applied for in any particular year exceeds the 5 aggregate amount of tax credits allowed for such year under this 6 section, such excess shall be treated as having been applied for on the 7 first day of the subsequent year. 8 (2) The commissioner of economic development, after consulting with 9 the commissioner, shall promulgate regulations by October thirty-first, 10 two thousand nineteen to establish procedures for the allocation of tax 11 credits as required by subdivision (a) of this section. Such rules and 12 regulations shall include provisions describing the application process, 13 the due dates for such applications, the standards which shall be used 14 to evaluate the applications, the documentation that will be provided to 15 taxpayers to substantiate to the department the amount of tax credits 16 allocated to such taxpayers, and such other provisions as deemed neces- 17 sary and appropriate. Notwithstanding any other provisions to the 18 contrary in the state administrative procedure act, such rules and regu- 19 lations may be adopted on an emergency basis if necessary to meet such 20 October thirty-first, two thousand nineteen deadline. 21 (f) The department of economic development shall submit to the gover- 22 nor, the temporary president of the senate, and the speaker of the 23 assembly, an annual report to be submitted on February first of each 24 year evaluating the effectiveness of the television writers' and direc- 25 tors' fees and salaries tax credit provided by this section in stimulat- 26 ing the growth of diversity in the film industry in the state. Such 27 report shall include, but need not be limited to, the number of quali- 28 fied film production companies and/or qualified independent film 29 production companies which received a television writers' and directors' 30 fees and salaries credit, the credit amounts claimed by each qualified 31 film production company and/or qualified independent film production 32 company, as well as the impact on employment and the economy of the 33 state. Such report shall be based on data available from the application 34 filed with the department of economic development for allocation of 35 television writers' and directors' fees and salaries credits. Notwith- 36 standing any provision of law to the contrary, the information contained 37 in the report shall be public information. The report may also include 38 any recommendations of changes in the calculation or administration of 39 the credit, and any other recommendation of the commissioner of the 40 department of economic development regarding continuing modification, 41 repeal of such act, and such other information regarding the act as the 42 commissioner of the department of economic development may feel useful 43 and appropriate. 44 § 2. Section 210-B of the tax law is amended by adding a new subdivi- 45 sion 53 to read as follows: 46 53. Television writers' and directors' fees and salaries credit. (a) 47 Allowance of credit. A taxpayer who is eligible pursuant to section 48 twenty-four-b of this chapter shall be allowed a credit to be computed 49 as provided in such section against the tax imposed by this article. 50 (b) Application of credit. The credit allowed under this subdivision 51 for any taxable year shall not reduce the tax due for such year to less 52 than the amount prescribed in paragraph (d) of subdivision one of 53 section two hundred ten of this article. Provided, however, that if the 54 amount of the credit allowable under this subdivision for any taxable 55 year reduces the tax to such amount or if the taxpayer otherwise pays 56 tax based on the fixed dollar minimum amount, the excess shall be treat-A. 6498 4 1 ed as an overpayment of tax to be credited or refunded in accordance 2 with the provisions of section one thousand eighty-six of this chapter. 3 Provided, further, the provisions of subsection (c) of section one thou- 4 sand eighty-eight of this chapter notwithstanding, no interest shall be 5 paid thereon. 6 § 3. Section 606 of the tax law is amended by adding a new subsection 7 (v) to read as follows: 8 (v) Television writers' and directors' fees and salaries credit. (1) 9 Allowance of credit. A taxpayer who is eligible pursuant to section 10 twenty-four-b of this chapter shall be allowed a credit to be computed 11 as provided in such section against the tax imposed by this article. 12 (2) Application of credit. If the amount of the credit allowable under 13 this subsection for any taxable year exceeds the taxpayer's tax for such 14 year, the excess shall be treated as an overpayment of tax to be credit- 15 ed or refunded as provided in section six hundred eighty-six of this 16 article, provided, however, that no interest shall be paid thereon. 17 § 4. Subparagraph (B) of paragraph 1 of subsection (i) of section 606 18 of the tax law is amended by adding a new clause (xliv) to read as 19 follows: 20 (xliv) Television writers' Amount of credit for the sum of 21 and directors' fees and salaries qualified television writers' and 22 credit under subsection (v) directors' salaries credit 23 under subdivision fifty-three of 24 section two hundred ten-B 25 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately, and shall apply to taxa- 26 ble years beginning on or after January 1, 2020.