Bill Text: NY S04349 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Defines film zone and excludes the film zone from the additional empire state film production credit.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS [S04349 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S04349-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          4349
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                      March 8, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by Sen. HARCKHAM -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Investigations and Govern-
          ment Operations
        AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to the definition of film  zone
          and  the  exclusion  of the film zone from the additional empire state
          film production credit
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section  1.  Paragraph  5  of subdivision (a) of section 24 of the tax
     2  law, as amended by section 1 of part M of chapter  59  of  the  laws  of
     3  2017, is amended to read as follows:
     4    (5)  For  the period two thousand fifteen through two thousand twenty-
     5  two, in addition to the amount of credit established in paragraph two of
     6  this subdivision, a taxpayer shall be allowed  a  credit  equal  to  the
     7  product  (or pro rata share of the product, in the case of a member of a
     8  partnership) of ten percent and the amount of wages or salaries paid  to
     9  individuals  directly  employed  (excluding  those  employed as writers,
    10  directors, music directors, producers and  performers,  including  back-
    11  ground  actors  with  no  scripted lines) by a qualified film production
    12  company or a qualified independent film production company for  services
    13  performed by those individuals in one of the counties or areas specified
    14  in  this  paragraph  in  connection with a qualified film with a minimum
    15  budget of five hundred thousand dollars. For purposes of this additional
    16  credit, the services must be performed in one or more of  the  following
    17  counties or areas:  Albany, Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chau-
    18  tauqua, Chemung, Chenango, Clinton, Columbia, Cortland, Delaware, Dutch-
    19  ess, Erie, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Genesee, Greene, Hamilton, Herkimer,
    20  Jefferson,  Lewis,  Livingston,  Madison,  Monroe,  Montgomery, Niagara,
    21  Oneida, Onondaga, Ontario,  Orange,  Orleans,  Oswego,  Otsego,  Putnam,
    22  Rensselaer,  Saratoga,  Schenectady,  Schoharie,  Schuyler,  Seneca, St.
    23  Lawrence, Steuben, Sullivan, Tioga, Tompkins, Ulster,  Warren,  Washing-
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD06480-01-9
        S. 4349                             2
     1  ton, Wayne, Wyoming, [or] Yates, or any area in the counties of Rockland
     2  or Westchester which is not located in the film zone as defined in para-
     3  graph  nine of subdivision (b) of this section.  The aggregate amount of
     4  tax credits allowed pursuant to the authority of this paragraph shall be
     5  five  million  dollars  each year during the period two thousand fifteen
     6  through two thousand twenty-two of the annual allocation made  available
     7  to  the  program  pursuant  to paragraph four of subdivision (e) of this
     8  section. Such aggregate amount of credits  shall  be  allocated  by  the
     9  governor's  office  for  motion picture and television development among
    10  taxpayers in order of priority based upon the date of filing an applica-
    11  tion for allocation of film production credit with such office.  If  the
    12  total  amount  of  allocated credits applied for under this paragraph in
    13  any year exceeds the aggregate amount of tax credits  allowed  for  such
    14  year  under  this paragraph, such excess shall be treated as having been
    15  applied for on the first day of the next year. If the  total  amount  of
    16  allocated tax credits applied for under this paragraph at the conclusion
    17  of  any  year  is less than five million dollars, the remainder shall be
    18  treated as part of the annual allocation made available to  the  program
    19  pursuant  to paragraph four of subdivision (e) of this section. However,
    20  in no event may the total of the credits allocated under this  paragraph
    21  and  the  credits  allocated  under paragraph five of subdivision (a) of
    22  section thirty-one of this article exceed five million  dollars  in  any
    23  year  during  the period two thousand fifteen through two thousand twen-
    24  ty-two.
    25    § 2. Subdivision (b) of section 24 of the tax law is amended by adding
    26  a new paragraph 9 to read as follows:
    27    (9) "Film zone" shall mean an area within a twenty-five mile radius of
    28  Columbus Circle in the borough of Manhattan.
    29    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.