STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4918
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
March 29, 2019
___________
Introduced by Sen. PARKER -- 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 creation of the empire
state music production 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 44 to read
2 as follows:
3 § 44. Empire state music production credit. (a)(1) Allowance of cred-
4 it. A taxpayer which is a qualified music production company, or a qual-
5 ified independent music production company, or which is a sole proprie-
6 tor of or a member of a partnership which is a qualified music
7 production company or a qualified independent music production company,
8 and which is subject to tax under article nine-A or twenty-two of this
9 chapter, shall be allowed a credit against such tax.
10 (2) The amount of the credit shall be the product (or pro rata share
11 of the product, in the case of a member of a partnership) of twenty-five
12 percent and the qualified production costs paid in the production of
13 music by the taxpayer. Qualifying music productions shall be commercial-
14 ly licensed sound recording projects having as their principal place of
15 production and recording this state and requiring expenditures in excess
16 of twenty-five thousand dollars. If the annual cost of such productions
17 to a taxpayer exceeds one hundred thousand dollars, but no single such
18 production exceeds one hundred thousand dollars, such taxpayer may apply
19 for the credit allowed by this section on an aggregate basis provided
20 such taxpayer employs ten or more residents of this state. Qualified
21 production costs shall mean costs for tangible property used and
22 services performed directly and predominantly in the production of qual-
23 ified music production in this state. Qualifying music production costs
24 shall include studio rental fees and related costs; instrument and
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10476-01-9
S. 4918 2
1 equipment rental fees; production session fees for musicians, songwri-
2 ters, composers, arrangers, music producers, programmers, engineers and
3 technicians; mixing and mastering services of qualifying music
4 productions; and hotel catering and local transportation expenditures
5 directly related to music production. Costs shall not include recording
6 live concerts; artists and producer royalties or advances; licensing
7 fees for samples; interpolations or other music clearance costs; master-
8 ing or post-production expenditures for projects that were not princi-
9 pally tracked and recorded in this state; nor any costs associated with
10 manufacturing, duplication, packaging, distribution, promotion, market-
11 ing and touring not specifically outlined above.
12 (3) No qualified production costs used by a taxpayer as the basis for
13 the allowance of the credit provided for under this section shall be
14 used by such taxpayer to claim any other credit allowed pursuant to this
15 chapter.
16 (b) Allocation of credit. The aggregate amount of tax credits allowed
17 under this section, subdivision fifty-three of section two hundred ten-B
18 and subsection (jjj) of section six hundred six of this chapter in any
19 calendar year shall be twenty-five million dollars and one million two
20 hundred fifty thousand dollars in any given week. Such aggregate amount
21 of credits shall be allocated by the empire state development corpo-
22 ration among taxpayers in order of priority based upon the date of
23 filing an application for allocation of music production credit with
24 such office. No single taxpayer may claim or be awarded more than ten
25 percent of the aggregate amount of tax credits allowed under this
26 section. If the total amount of allocated credits applied for in any
27 particular year exceeds the aggregate amount of tax credits allowed for
28 such year under this section, such excess shall be treated as having
29 been applied for on the first day of the subsequent year.
30 (c) Cross-references. For application of the credit provided for in
31 this section, see the following provisions of this chapter:
32 (1) article 9-A: section 210-B: subdivision 53
33 (2) article 22: section 606: subsection (jjj)
34 § 2. Section 210-B of the tax law is amended by adding a new subdivi-
35 sion 53 to read as follows:
36 53. Empire state music production credit. (a) Allowance of credit. A
37 taxpayer who is eligible pursuant to section forty-four of this chapter
38 shall be allowed a credit to be computed as provided in such section
39 forty-four against the tax imposed by this article.
40 (b) Application of credit. The credit allowed under this subdivision
41 for any taxable year shall not reduce the tax due for such year to less
42 than the amount prescribed in paragraph (d) of subdivision one of
43 section two hundred ten of this article. Provided, however, that if the
44 amount of the credit allowable under this subdivision for any taxable
45 year reduces the tax to such amount, the excess shall be treated as an
46 overpayment of tax to be credited or refunded in accordance with the
47 provisions of section one thousand eighty-six of this chapter. Provided,
48 however, the provisions of subsection (c) of section one thousand eight-
49 y-eight of this chapter notwithstanding, no interest shall be paid ther-
50 eon.
51 § 3. Subparagraph (B) of paragraph 1 of subsection (i) of section 606
52 of the tax law is amended by adding a new clause (xliv) to read as
53 follows:
54 (xliv) Empire state music Amount of credit for
55 production credit under qualified production credit
56 subsection (jjj) music under subdivision
S. 4918 3
1 fifty-three of section two
2 hundred ten-B
3 § 4. Section 606 of the tax law is amended by adding a new subsection
4 (jjj) to read as follows:
5 (jjj) Empire state music production credit. (1) Allowance of credit. A
6 taxpayer who is eligible pursuant to section forty-four of this chapter
7 shall be allowed a credit to be computed as provided in such section
8 forty-four against the tax imposed by this article.
9 (2) Application of credit. If the amount of the credit allowable under
10 this subsection for any taxable year exceeds the taxpayer's tax for such
11 year, the excess shall be treated as an overpayment of tax to be credit-
12 ed or refunded as provided in section six hundred eighty-six of this
13 article, provided, however, that no interest shall be paid thereon.
14 § 5. The empire state development corporation shall conduct a study
15 analyzing the economic impact of the tax credit authorized pursuant to
16 section one of this act and shall report its findings, conclusions and
17 recommendations to the governor and the legislature on or before one
18 year from the date this act shall become a law, and shall submit with
19 its report such legislative proposals as it deems necessary to implement
20 its recommendations. The empire state development corporation shall
21 list the recipients of the tax credit authorized pursuant to section one
22 of this act on their official internet website.
23 § 6. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
24 it shall have become a law.