Bill Text: NY S00058 | 2023-2024 | 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 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS [S00058 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S00058-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                           58

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                       (Prefiled)

                                     January 4, 2023
                                       ___________

        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 2 of part M of chapter  59  of  the  laws  of
     3  2022, is amended to read as follows:
     4    (5)  For  the period two thousand fifteen through two thousand twenty-
     5  nine, in addition to the amount of credit established in  paragraph  two
     6  of  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.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01558-01-3
        S. 58                               2

     1  Lawrence,  Steuben,  Sullivan, Tioga, Tompkins, Ulster, Warren, Washing-
     2  ton, Wayne, Wyoming, [or] Yates, or any area in the counties of Rockland
     3  or Westchester which is not located in the film zone as defined in para-
     4  graph  nine  of subdivision (b) of this section. The aggregate amount of
     5  tax credits allowed pursuant to the authority of this paragraph shall be
     6  five million dollars each year during the period  two  thousand  fifteen
     7  through two thousand twenty-nine of the annual allocation made available
     8  to  the  program  pursuant  to paragraph four of subdivision (e) of this
     9  section. Such aggregate amount of credits  shall  be  allocated  by  the
    10  governor's  office  for  motion picture and television development among
    11  taxpayers in order of priority based upon the date of filing an applica-
    12  tion for allocation of film production credit with such office.  If  the
    13  total  amount  of  allocated credits applied for under this paragraph in
    14  any year exceeds the aggregate amount of tax credits  allowed  for  such
    15  year  under  this paragraph, such excess shall be treated as having been
    16  applied for on the first day of the next year. If the  total  amount  of
    17  allocated tax credits applied for under this paragraph at the conclusion
    18  of  any  year  is less than five million dollars, the remainder shall be
    19  treated as part of the annual allocation made available to  the  program
    20  pursuant  to paragraph four of subdivision (e) of this section. However,
    21  in no event may the total of the credits allocated under this  paragraph
    22  and  the  credits  allocated  under paragraph five of subdivision (a) of
    23  section thirty-one of this article exceed five million  dollars  in  any
    24  year  during  the period two thousand fifteen through two thousand twen-
    25  ty-nine.
    26    § 2. Subdivision (b) of section 24 of the tax law is amended by adding
    27  a new paragraph 9 to read as follows:
    28    (9) "Film zone" shall mean an area within a twenty-five mile radius of
    29  Columbus Circle in the borough of Manhattan.
    30    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.