Bill Text: NY S04832 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Extends and enhances the empire state film production credit and the empire state film post production credit.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS [S04832 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-S04832-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4832 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN SENATE February 15, 2023 ___________ Introduced by Sens. HINCHEY, COONEY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Investigations and Government Operations AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to the empire state film production credit and the empire state film post production credit The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraph 2 of subdivision (a) of section 24 of the tax 2 law, as separately amended by sections 1 and 2 of part M of chapter 59 3 of the laws of 2020, is amended to read as follows: 4 (2) The amount of the credit shall be the product (or pro rata share 5 of the product, in the case of a member of a partnership) of [twenty-6five] thirty percent, or thirty-five percent in the case of an eligible 7 relocated television series, and the qualified production costs paid or 8 incurred in the production of a qualified film, provided that: (i) the 9 qualified production costs (excluding post production costs) paid or 10 incurred which are attributable to the use of tangible property or the 11 performance of services at a qualified film production facility in the 12 production of such qualified film equal or exceed seventy-five percent 13 of the production costs (excluding post production costs) paid or 14 incurred which are attributable to the use of tangible property or the 15 performance of services at any film production facility within and with- 16 out the state in the production of such qualified film, and (ii) except 17 with respect to a qualified independent film production company or 18 pilot, at least ten percent of the total principal photography shooting 19 days spent in the production of such qualified film must be spent at a 20 qualified film production facility. However, if the qualified production 21 costs (excluding post production costs) which are attributable to the 22 use of tangible property or the performance of services at a qualified 23 film production facility in the production of such qualified film is 24 less than three million dollars, then the portion of the qualified EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD09509-02-3S. 4832 2 1 production costs attributable to the use of tangible property or the 2 performance of services in the production of such qualified film outside 3 of a qualified film production facility shall be allowed only if the 4 shooting days spent in New York outside of a film production facility in 5 the production of such qualified film equal or exceed seventy-five 6 percent of the total shooting days spent within and without New York 7 outside of a film production facility in the production of such quali- 8 fied film. The credit shall be allowed for the taxable year in which the 9 production of such qualified film is completed. However, in the case of 10 a qualified film that receives funds from additional pool 2, no credit 11 shall be claimed before the later of (1) the taxable year the production 12 of the qualified film is complete, or (2) the [first] taxable year 13 [beginning immediately after the] that includes the last day of the 14 allocation year for which the film has been allocated credit by the 15 governor's office for motion picture and television development. If the 16 amount of the credit is at least one million dollars but less than five 17 million dollars, the credit shall be claimed over a two year period 18 beginning in the first taxable year in which the credit may be claimed 19 and in the next succeeding taxable year, with one-half of the amount of 20 credit allowed being claimed in each year. If the amount of the credit 21 is at least five million dollars, the credit shall be claimed over a 22 three year period beginning in the first taxable year in which the cred- 23 it may be claimed and in the next two succeeding taxable years, with 24 one-third of the amount of the credit allowed being claimed in each 25 year. 26 § 2. Paragraph 5 of subdivision (a) of section 24 of the tax law, as 27 amended by section 2 of part M of chapter 59 of the laws of 2022, is 28 amended to read as follows: 29 (5) For the period two thousand fifteen through two thousand [twenty-30nine] thirty-four, in addition to the amount of credit established in 31 paragraph two of this subdivision, a taxpayer shall be allowed a credit 32 equal to the product (or pro rata share of the product, in the case of a 33 member of a partnership) of ten percent and the [amount of wages or34salaries paid to individuals directly employed (excluding those employed35as writers, directors, music directors, producers and performers,36including background actors with no scripted lines) by a qualified film37production company or a qualified independent film production company38for services performed by those individuals] qualified production costs 39 paid or incurred in the production of the qualified film in one of the 40 counties specified in this paragraph in connection with a qualified film 41 with a minimum budget of five hundred thousand dollars. For purposes of 42 this additional credit, the [services must be performed] qualified 43 production costs paid or incurred must be in the production of a quali- 44 fied film in one or more of the following counties: Albany, Allegany, 45 Broome, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Chemung, Chenango, Clinton, 46 Columbia, Cortland, Delaware, Dutchess, Erie, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, 47 Genesee, Greene, Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Livingston, Madi- 48 son, Monroe, Montgomery, Niagara, Oneida, Onondaga, Ontario, Orange, 49 Orleans, Oswego, Otsego, Putnam, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, 50 Schoharie, Schuyler, Seneca, St. Lawrence, Steuben, Sullivan, Tioga, 51 Tompkins, Ulster, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wyoming, or Yates. [The52aggregate amount of tax credits allowed pursuant to the authority of53this paragraph shall be five million dollars each year during the period54two thousand fifteen through two thousand twenty-nine of the annual55allocation made available to the program pursuant to paragraph four of56subdivision (e) of this section. Such aggregate amount of credits shallS. 4832 3 1be allocated by the governor's office for motion picture and television2development among taxpayers in order of priority based upon the date of3filing an application for allocation of film production credit with such4office. If the total amount of allocated credits applied for under this5paragraph in any year exceeds the aggregate amount of tax credits6allowed for such year under this paragraph, such excess shall be treated7as having been applied for on the first day of the next year. If the8total amount of allocated tax credits applied for under this paragraph9at the conclusion of any year is less than five million dollars, the10remainder shall be treated as part of the annual allocation made avail-11able to the program pursuant to paragraph four of subdivision (e) of12this section. However, in no event may the total of the credits allo-13cated under this paragraph and the credits allocated under paragraph14five of subdivision (a) of section thirty-one of this article exceed15five million dollars in any year during the period two thousand fifteen16through two thousand twenty-nine] The total amount of credit established 17 pursuant to the authority of this paragraph and paragraph two of this 18 subdivision shall not exceed a credit equal to the product (or pro rata 19 share of the product, in the case of a member of a partnership) of forty 20 percent and the qualified production costs paid or incurred in the 21 production of the qualified film. 22 § 2-a. Paragraph 1 of subdivision (b) of section 24 of the tax law, as 23 amended by section 4 of part B of chapter 59 of the laws of 2013, is 24 amended to read as follows: 25 (1) "Qualified production costs" means production costs only to the 26 extent such costs are attributable to the use of tangible property or 27 the performance of services within the state directly and predominantly 28 in the production (including pre-production and post production) of a 29 qualified film. The aggregate total eligible qualified production 30 costs for producers, writers, directors, actors, and composers shall not 31 exceed forty percent of the aggregate sum total of all other qualified 32 production costs. 33 § 3. Paragraph 2 of subdivision (b) of section 24 of the tax law, as 34 added by section 1 of part P of chapter 60 of the laws of 2004, is 35 amended to read as follows: 36 (2) "Production costs" means any costs for tangible property used and 37 services performed directly and predominantly in the production (includ- 38 ing pre-production and post production) of a qualified film. 39 "Production costs" shall not include (i) costs for a story, script or 40 scenario to be used for a qualified film and (ii) wages or salaries or 41 other compensation for writers, directors, including [music directors] 42 composers, producers and performers (other than background actors with 43 no scripted lines) to the extent those wages or salaries or other 44 compensation exceed five hundred thousand dollars per individual. 45 "Production costs" generally include technical and crew production 46 costs, such as expenditures for film production facilities, or any part 47 thereof, props, makeup, wardrobe, film processing, camera, sound record- 48 ing, set construction, lighting, shooting, editing and meals. 49 § 4. Paragraph 8 of subdivision (b) of section 24 of the tax law, as 50 added by section 2 of part B of chapter 59 of the laws of 2013, is 51 amended to read as follows: 52 (8) "Relocated television production" shall mean, notwithstanding the 53 limitations in subparagraph (i) of paragraph three of this subdivision, 54 a television production that is a talk or variety program that filmed at 55 least [five] two seasons outside the state prior to its first relocated 56 season in New York, the episodes are filmed before a studio audience ofS. 4832 4 1 two hundred or more, and the relocated television production incurs (i) 2 at least thirty million dollars in annual production costs in the state, 3 or (ii) at least ten million dollars in capital expenditures at a quali- 4 fied production facility in the state. 5 § 5. Subdivision (b) of section 24 of the tax law is amended by adding 6 a new paragraph 9 to read as follows: 7 (9) "Eligible relocated television series" shall mean the first two 8 years of a regularly occurring production intended to run in its initial 9 broadcast, regardless of the medium or mode of its distribution, in a 10 series of narrative and/or thematically related episodes, each of which 11 has a running time of at least thirty minutes in length (inclusive of 12 commercial advertisement and interstitial programming, if any). For the 13 purposes of this definition only, a television series produced by and 14 for media services providers described as streaming services and/or 15 digital platforms (and excluding network/cable) shall mean a regularly 16 occurring production intended to run in its initial release in a series 17 of narrative and/or thematically related episodes, the aggregate length 18 of which is at least seventy-five minutes, although the episodes them- 19 selves may vary in duration from the thirty minutes specified for 20 network/cable production, which had filmed six episodes of the tele- 21 vision series outside the state immediately prior to relocating to the 22 state, where each episode of the television series had a minimum budget 23 of at least one million dollars. 24 § 6. Paragraph 4 of subdivision (e) of section 24 of the tax law, as 25 amended by section 3 of part M of chapter 59 of the laws of 2022, is 26 amended to read as follows: 27 (4) Additional pool 2 - The aggregate amount of tax credits allowed in 28 subdivision (a) of this section shall be increased by an additional four 29 hundred twenty million dollars in each year starting in two thousand ten 30 through two thousand [twenty-nine] twenty-three and seven hundred 31 million dollars each year starting in two thousand twenty-four through 32 two thousand thirty-four, provided however, seven million dollars of the 33 annual allocation shall be available for the empire state film post 34 production credit pursuant to section thirty-one of this article in two 35 thousand thirteen and two thousand fourteen, twenty-five million dollars 36 of the annual allocation shall be available for the empire state film 37 post production credit pursuant to section thirty-one of this article in 38 each year starting in two thousand fifteen through two thousand [twen-39ty-nine and] twenty-three, and forty-five million dollars of the annual 40 allocation shall be available for the empire state film post production 41 credit pursuant to section thirty-one of this article in each year 42 starting in two thousand twenty-four through two thousand thirty-four. 43 Provided further, five million dollars of the annual allocation shall be 44 made available for the television writers' and directors' fees and sala- 45 ries credit pursuant to section twenty-four-b of this article in each 46 year starting in two thousand twenty through two thousand [twenty-nine] 47 thirty-four. This amount shall be allocated by the governor's office for 48 motion picture and television development among taxpayers in accordance 49 with subdivision (a) of this section. If the commissioner of economic 50 development determines that the aggregate amount of tax credits avail- 51 able from additional pool 2 for the empire state film production tax 52 credit have been previously allocated, and determines that the pending 53 applications from eligible applicants for the empire state film post 54 production tax credit pursuant to section thirty-one of this article is 55 insufficient to utilize the balance of unallocated empire state film 56 post production tax credits from such pool, the remainder, after suchS. 4832 5 1 pending applications are considered, shall be made available for allo- 2 cation in the empire state film tax credit pursuant to this section, 3 subdivision twenty of section two hundred ten-B and subsection (gg) of 4 section six hundred six of this chapter. Also, if the commissioner of 5 economic development determines that the aggregate amount of tax credits 6 available from additional pool 2 for the empire state film post 7 production tax credit have been previously allocated, and determines 8 that the pending applications from eligible applicants for the empire 9 state film production tax credit pursuant to this section is insuffi- 10 cient to utilize the balance of unallocated film production tax credits 11 from such pool, then all or part of the remainder, after such pending 12 applications are considered, shall be made available for allocation for 13 the empire state film post production credit pursuant to this section, 14 subdivision thirty-two of section two hundred ten-B and subsection (qq) 15 of section six hundred six of this chapter. The governor's office for 16 motion picture and television development must notify taxpayers of their 17 allocation year and include the allocation year on the certificate of 18 tax credit. Taxpayers eligible to claim a credit must report the allo- 19 cation year directly on their empire state film production credit tax 20 form for each year a credit is claimed and include a copy of the certif- 21 icate with their tax return. In the case of a qualified film that 22 receives funds from additional pool 2, no empire state film production 23 credit shall be claimed before the later of the taxable year the 24 production of the qualified film is complete, or the taxable year imme- 25 diately following the allocation year for which the film has been allo- 26 cated credit by the governor's office for motion picture and television 27 development. 28 § 7. Paragraph 4 of subdivision (e) of section 24 of the tax law, as 29 amended by section 4 of part M of chapter 59 of the laws of 2022, is 30 amended to read as follows: 31 (4) Additional pool 2 - The aggregate amount of tax credits allowed in 32 subdivision (a) of this section shall be increased by an additional four 33 hundred twenty million dollars in each year starting in two thousand ten 34 through two thousand [twenty-nine] twenty-three and seven hundred 35 million dollars in each year starting in two thousand twenty-four 36 through two thousand thirty-four, provided however, seven million 37 dollars of the annual allocation shall be available for the empire state 38 film post production credit pursuant to section thirty-one of this arti- 39 cle in two thousand thirteen and two thousand fourteen [and], twenty- 40 five million dollars of the annual allocation shall be available for the 41 empire state film post production credit pursuant to section thirty-one 42 of this article in each year starting in two thousand fifteen through 43 two thousand [twenty-nine] twenty-three, and forty-five million dollars 44 of the annual allocation shall be available for the empire state film 45 post production credit pursuant to section thirty-one of this article in 46 each year starting in two thousand twenty-four through two thousand 47 thirty-four. This amount shall be allocated by the governor's office for 48 motion picture and television development among taxpayers in accordance 49 with subdivision (a) of this section. If the commissioner of economic 50 development determines that the aggregate amount of tax credits avail- 51 able from additional pool 2 for the empire state film production tax 52 credit have been previously allocated, and determines that the pending 53 applications from eligible applicants for the empire state film post 54 production tax credit pursuant to section thirty-one of this article is 55 insufficient to utilize the balance of unallocated empire state film 56 post production tax credits from such pool, the remainder, after suchS. 4832 6 1 pending applications are considered, shall be made available for allo- 2 cation in the empire state film tax credit pursuant to this section, 3 subdivision twenty of section two hundred ten-B and subsection (gg) of 4 section six hundred six of this chapter. Also, if the commissioner of 5 economic development determines that the aggregate amount of tax credits 6 available from additional pool 2 for the empire state film post 7 production tax credit have been previously allocated, and determines 8 that the pending applications from eligible applicants for the empire 9 state film production tax credit pursuant to this section is insuffi- 10 cient to utilize the balance of unallocated film production tax credits 11 from such pool, then all or part of the remainder, after such pending 12 applications are considered, shall be made available for allocation for 13 the empire state film post production credit pursuant to this section, 14 subdivision thirty-two of section two hundred ten-B and subsection (qq) 15 of section six hundred six of this chapter. The governor's office for 16 motion picture and television development must notify taxpayers of their 17 allocation year and include the allocation year on the certificate of 18 tax credit. Taxpayers eligible to claim a credit must report the allo- 19 cation year directly on their empire state film production credit tax 20 form for each year a credit is claimed and include a copy of the certif- 21 icate with their tax return. In the case of a qualified film that 22 receives funds from additional pool 2, no empire state film production 23 credit shall be claimed before the later of the taxable year the 24 production of the qualified film is complete, or the taxable year imme- 25 diately following the allocation year for which the film has been allo- 26 cated credit by the governor's office for motion picture and television 27 development. 28 § 8. Paragraph 2 of subdivision (a) of section 31 of the tax law, as 29 amended by section 5 of part M of chapter 59 of the laws of 2020, is 30 amended to read as follows: 31 (2) The amount of the credit shall be the product (or pro rata share 32 of the product, in the case of a member of a partnership) of [twenty-33five] thirty percent and the qualified post production costs paid in the 34 production of a qualified film at a qualified post production facility 35 located within the metropolitan commuter transportation district as 36 defined in section twelve hundred sixty-two of the public authorities 37 law or [thirty] thirty-five percent and the qualified post production 38 costs paid in the production of a qualified film at a qualified post 39 production facility located elsewhere in the state. 40 § 9. Paragraph 6 of subdivision (a) of section 31 of the tax law, as 41 amended by section 6 of part M of chapter 59 of the laws of 2022, is 42 amended to read as follows: 43 (6) For the period two thousand fifteen through two thousand [twenty-44nine] thirty-four, in addition to the amount of credit established in 45 paragraph two of this subdivision, a taxpayer shall be allowed a credit 46 equal to the product (or pro rata share of the product, in the case of a 47 member of a partnership) of ten percent and the [amount of wages or48salaries paid to individuals directly employed (excluding those employed49as writers, directors, music directors, producers and performers,50including background actors with no scripted lines) for services51performed by those individuals] qualified post production costs paid in 52 the production of a qualified film with a minimum budget of five thou- 53 sand dollars at a qualified post production facility located in one of 54 the counties specified in this paragraph [in connection with the post55production work on a qualified film with a minimum budget of five56hundred thousand dollars at a qualified post production facility in oneS. 4832 7 1of the counties listed in this paragraph]. For purposes of this addi- 2 tional credit, [the services must be performed] the qualified post 3 production costs paid must be in the production of a qualified film in 4 one or more of the following counties: Albany, Allegany, Broome, Catta- 5 raugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Chemung, Chenango, Clinton, Columbia, Cort- 6 land, Delaware, Dutchess, Erie, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Genesee, 7 Greene, Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Livingston, Madison, 8 Monroe, Montgomery, Niagara, Oneida, Onondaga, Ontario, Orange, Orleans, 9 Oswego, Otsego, Putnam, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, 10 Schuyler, Seneca, St. Lawrence, Steuben, Sullivan, Tioga, Tompkins, 11 Ulster, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wyoming, or Yates. [The aggregate12amount of tax credits allowed pursuant to the authority of this para-13graph shall be five million dollars each year during the period two14thousand fifteen through two thousand twenty-nine of the annual allo-15cation made available to the empire state film post production credit16pursuant to paragraph four of subdivision (e) of section twenty-four of17this article. Such aggregate amount of credits shall be allocated by the18governor's office for motion picture and television development among19taxpayers in order of priority based upon the date of filing an applica-20tion for allocation of post production credit with such office. If the21total amount of allocated credits applied for under this paragraph in22any year exceeds the aggregate amount of tax credits allowed for such23year under this paragraph, such excess shall be treated as having been24applied for on the first day of the next year. If the total amount of25allocated tax credits applied for under this paragraph at the conclusion26of any year is less than five million dollars, the remainder shall be27treated as part of the annual allocation for two thousand seventeen made28available to the empire state film post production credit pursuant to29paragraph four of subdivision (e) of section twenty-four of this arti-30cle. However, in no event may the total of the credits allocated under31this paragraph and the credits allocated under paragraph five of subdi-32vision (a) of section twenty-four of this article exceed five million33dollars in any year during the period two thousand fifteen through two34thousand twenty-nine.] 35 § 10. This act shall take effect immediately for new initial applica- 36 tions received on or after such effective date; provided, however, that 37 the amendments to paragraph 4 of subdivision (e) of section 24 of the 38 tax law made by section six of this act shall take effect on the same 39 date and in the same manner as section 6 of chapter 683 of the laws of 40 2019, as amended, takes effect.
