S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8463
 
                        2017-2018 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                               June 16, 2017
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  ZEBROWSKI  --  read once and referred to the
   Committee on Ways and Means
 
 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:
 
   Section  1.  Paragraph  5  of subdivision (a) of section 24 of the tax
 law, as amended by section 1 of part M of chapter  59  of  the  laws  of
 2017, is amended to read as follows:
   (5)  For  the period two thousand fifteen through two thousand twenty-
 two, in addition to the amount of credit established in paragraph two of
 this subdivision, a taxpayer shall be allowed  a  credit  equal  to  the
 product  (or pro rata share of the product, in the case of a member of a
 partnership) of ten percent and the amount of wages or salaries paid  to
 individuals  directly  employed  (excluding  those  employed as writers,
 directors, music directors, producers and  performers,  including  back-
 ground  actors  with  no  scripted lines) by a qualified film production
 company or a qualified independent film production company for  services
 performed by those individuals in one of the counties OR AREAS specified
 in  this  paragraph  in  connection with a qualified film with a minimum
 budget of five hundred thousand dollars. For purposes of this additional
 credit, the services must be performed in one or more of  the  following
 counties OR AREAS:  Albany, Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chau-
 tauqua, Chemung, Chenango, Clinton, Columbia, Cortland, Delaware, Dutch-
 ess, Erie, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Genesee, Greene, Hamilton, Herkimer,
 Jefferson,  Lewis,  Livingston,  Madison,  Monroe,  Montgomery, Niagara,
 Oneida, Onondaga, Ontario,  Orange,  Orleans,  Oswego,  Otsego,  Putnam,
 Rensselaer,  Saratoga,  Schenectady,  Schoharie,  Schuyler,  Seneca, St.
 Lawrence, Steuben, Sullivan, Tioga, Tompkins, Ulster,  Warren,  Washing-
 ton, Wayne, Wyoming, [or] Yates, OR ANY AREA IN THE COUNTIES OF ROCKLAND
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD13032-03-7

 A. 8463                             2
 
 OR WESTCHESTER WHICH IS NOT LOCATED IN THE FILM ZONE AS DEFINED IN PARA-
 GRAPH  NINE OF SUBDIVISION (B) OF THIS SECTION.  The aggregate amount of
 tax credits allowed pursuant to the authority of this paragraph shall be
 five  million  dollars  each year during the period two thousand fifteen
 through two thousand twenty-two of the annual allocation made  available
 to  the  program  pursuant  to paragraph four of subdivision (e) of this
 section. Such aggregate amount of credits  shall  be  allocated  by  the
 governor's  office  for  motion picture and television development among
 taxpayers in order of priority based upon the date of filing an applica-
 tion for allocation of film production credit with such office.  If  the
 total  amount  of  allocated credits applied for under this paragraph in
 any year exceeds the aggregate amount of tax credits  allowed  for  such
 year  under  this paragraph, such excess shall be treated as having been
 applied for on the first day of the next year. If the  total  amount  of
 allocated tax credits applied for under this paragraph at the conclusion
 of  any  year  is less than five million dollars, the remainder shall be
 treated as part of the annual allocation made available to  the  program
 pursuant  to paragraph four of subdivision (e) of this section. However,
 in no event may the total of the credits allocated under this  paragraph
 and  the  credits  allocated  under paragraph five of subdivision (a) of
 section thirty-one of this article exceed five million  dollars  in  any
 year  during  the period two thousand fifteen through two thousand twen-
 ty-two.
   § 2. Subdivision (b) of section 24 of the tax law is amended by adding
 a new paragraph 9 to read as follows:
   (9) "FILM ZONE" SHALL MEAN AN AREA WITHIN A TWENTY-FIVE MILE RADIUS OF
 COLUMBUS CIRCLE IN THE BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.