S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
9760
I N A S S E M B L Y
February 10, 2020
___________
Introduced by M. of A. CRESPO -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Ways and Means
AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to a television writers' and
directors' fees and salaries credit; and to amend a chapter of the
laws of 2019 amending the tax law relating to a television writers'
and directors' fees and salaries credit, as proposed in legislative
bills numbers S. 5864-A and A. 6683-B, in relation to a television
writers' and directors' fees and salaries credit and the effectiveness
thereof
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Section 24-b of the tax law, as added by a chapter of the
laws of 2019, amending the tax law relating to a television writers' and
directors' fees and salaries credit, as proposed in legislative bills
numbers S. 5864-A and A. 6683-B, is amended to read as follows:
§ 24-b. Television writers' and directors' fees and salaries credit.
(a)(1) A taxpayer which is a qualified film production company, or a
qualified independent film production company, or which is a sole
proprietor of or a member of a partnership which is a qualified film
production company or a qualified independent film production company,
and which is subject to tax under articles nine-A or twenty-two of this
chapter, shall be allowed a credit against such tax, pursuant to the
provisions referenced in subdivision (c) of this section, to be computed
as hereinafter provided.
(2) The amount of the credit shall be the product (or pro rata share
of the product, in the case of a member of a partnership) of thirty
percent and the qualified television writers' and directors' fees and
salaries costs paid or incurred in the production of a qualified film,
provided that: (i) the credit amount shall not exceed fifty thousand
dollars for qualified television writers' and directors' fees and sala-
ries claimed for such expenses incurred for the employment of any one
specific writer or director for the production of a single television
pilot or a single episode of a television series, and (ii) the credit
amount shall not exceed one hundred fifty thousand dollars for qualified
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10593-06-0
A. 9760 2
television writers' and directors' fees and salaries claimed for such
expenses incurred for the employment of any one specific writer or
director. IN ADDITION, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL THE CREDIT AMOUNT
INCLUDE FEES OR SALARIES FOR MORE THAN ONE DIRECTOR PER EPISODE. The
credit shall be allowed for the taxable year in which the production of
such qualified film is completed.
(3) No qualified television writers' and directors' fees and salaries
used by a taxpayer either as the basis for the allowance of the credit
provided for pursuant to this section or used in the calculation of the
credit provided pursuant to this section shall be used by such taxpayer
to claim any other credit allowed pursuant to this chapter.
(b) Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms shall
have the following meanings:
(1) "Qualified film production company" is a corporation, partnership,
limited partnership, or other entity or individual WHOSE PROJECT IS
CONDITIONALLY ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE A TAX CREDIT UNDER SECTION TWENTY-FOUR
OF THIS ARTICLE which or who is principally engaged in the production of
a qualified film and controls the qualified film during production.
(2) "Qualified independent film production company" is a corporation,
partnership, limited partnership, or other entity or individual WHOSE
PROJECT IS CONDITIONALLY ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE A TAX CREDIT UNDER SECTION
TWENTY-FOUR OF THIS ARTICLE, that or who (i) is principally engaged in
the production of a qualified film with a maximum budget of fifteen
million dollars, (ii) controls the qualified film during production, and
(iii) either is not a publicly traded entity, or no more than five
percent of the beneficial ownership of which is owned, directly or indi-
rectly, by a publicly traded entity.
(3) "Qualified film" means a television film, television pilot and/or
each episode of a television series, regardless of the medium by means
of which the film, pilot or episode is created or conveyed.
(4) "Qualified television writers' and directors' fees and salaries"
means[: (i)] salaries or fees paid to a writer or director who receives
an on-air credit[; (ii) for a non-credited writer, up to seventy-five
thousand dollars in salaries or fees per series of episodes. Provided],
PROVIDED that in each case, such writer or director is a minority group
member, as defined in subdivision eight of section three hundred ten of
the executive law, or a woman, and provided, further, that salaries or
fees paid to any writer or director who is a profit participant in the
qualified film shall not be eligible. SUCH FEES SHALL NOT INCLUDE RELO-
CATION FEES OR HOTEL COSTS AND PER DIEMS. IN ADDITION, SUCH FEES SHALL
NOT INCLUDE SALARIES OR FEES PAID TO WRITERS OR DIRECTORS FOR WORK DONE
ON EPISODES OF TELEVISION SERIES THAT WERE DEEMED CONDITIONALLY ELIGIBLE
FOR THE TAX CREDIT UNDER SECTION TWENTY-FOUR OF THIS ARTICLE PRIOR TO
THE TAX YEAR FOR WHICH THE CREDIT IS FIRST AVAILABLE.
(5) "Writer" means a person who is[: (i)] engaged by a qualified film
production company or a qualified independent film production company to
write [literary material (including making changes or revisions in
literary material), when the company has the right by contract to direct
the performance of personal services in writing or preparing such mate-
rial or in making revisions, modifications or changes therein; or (ii)
engaged by the company and who performs services (at the company's
direction or with its consent) in writing or preparing such literary
material or making revisions, modifications, or changes in such materi-
al;] TELEVISION SCRIPTS, OUTLINES, REWRITES, STORIES, OR TELEPLAYS FOR
TELEVISION SERIES and [(iii)] who reports to work regularly in a writers
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room located in the state. FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS DEFINITION, "WRIT-
ER" SHALL NOT INCLUDE SHOWRUNNERS OR EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS.
(6) ["Literary material" shall be deemed to include stories, adapta-
tions, treatments, original treatments, scenarios, continuities, tele-
plays, screenplays, dialogue, scripts, sketches, plots, outlines, narra-
tive synopses, routines, narrations, and formats.
(7)] "Writers room" means a room or physical location IN THE STATE
where writers employed by a qualified film production company or quali-
fied independent film production company write [or revise literary mate-
rials] TELEVISION SCRIPTS, OUTLINES, REWRITES, STORIES, OR TELEPLAYS FOR
TELEVISION SERIES utilized in a qualified film. A WRITERS ROOM IS
LOCATED IN THE STATE ONLY IF IT IS IN USE IN THE STATE AT LEAST EIGHTY
PERCENT OF THE TIME IT IS IN EXISTENCE.
[(8)] (7) "Director" means an individual employed or retained to
direct the production, as the word "direct" is commonly used in the
motion picture industry, [and] who would be classified as a director
under the basic agreement in place between the Association of Motion
Picture and Television Producers and the Director's Guild of America and
who [is a resident of New York] MUST MEET THE MINIMUM CRITERIA FOR WORK
ON QUALIFIED PRODUCTIONS IN NEW YORK STATE AS ESTABLISHED BY THE COMMIS-
SIONER OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BY REGULATION.
[(9)] (8) "Profit participant" is an individual who has negotiated for
a percentage of profits generated by a qualified film. Profit partic-
ipation does not include monies contractually required by collectively
bargained agreements for reuse of a qualified film on different plat-
forms over time.
(c) Cross-references. For application of the credit provided for in
this section, see the following provisions of this chapter:
(1) article 9-A: section 210-B: subdivision 54.
(2) article 22: section 606: subsection (v).
(d) Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter, (1) employees and
officers of the department of economic development and the department
shall be allowed and are directed to share and exchange information
regarding the credits applied for, allowed, or claimed pursuant to this
section and taxpayers who are applying for credits or who are claiming
credits, including information contained in or derived from credit claim
forms submitted to the department and applications for certification
submitted to the department of economic development, and (2) the commis-
sioner and the commissioner of the department of economic development
may release the names and addresses of any taxpayer claiming this credit
and the amount of the credit earned by the taxpayer. Provided, however,
if a taxpayer claims this credit because it is a member of a limited
liability company or a partner in a partnership, only the amount of
credit earned by the entity and not the amount of credit claimed by the
taxpayer may be released.
(e) Maximum amount of credits. (1) The aggregate amount of tax credits
allowed under this section, subdivision fifty-four of section two
hundred ten-B and subsection (v) of section six hundred six of this
chapter in any calendar year shall be five million dollars. Such aggre-
gate amount of credits shall be allocated by the department of economic
development among taxpayers in order of priority based upon the date of
filing an application for allocation of television writers' and direc-
tors' fees and salaries credit with such department. If the total amount
of allocated credits applied for in any particular year exceeds the
aggregate amount of tax credits allowed for such year under this
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section, such excess shall be treated as having been applied for on the
first day of the subsequent year.
(2) The commissioner of economic development, after consulting with
the commissioner, shall promulgate regulations [by October thirty-first,
two thousand nineteen] to establish procedures for the allocation of tax
credits as required by subdivision (a) of this section. Such rules and
regulations shall include provisions describing the application process,
the due dates for such applications, the standards which shall be used
to evaluate the applications, the documentation that will be provided to
taxpayers to substantiate to the department the amount of tax credits
allocated to such taxpayers, and such other provisions as deemed neces-
sary and appropriate. Notwithstanding any other provisions to the
contrary in the state administrative procedure act, such rules and regu-
lations may be adopted on an emergency basis [if necessary to meet such
October thirty-first, two thousand nineteen deadline].
(f) The department of economic development shall submit to the gover-
nor, the temporary president of the senate, and the speaker of the
assembly, an annual report to be submitted on February first of each
year evaluating the effectiveness of the television writers' and direc-
tors' fees and salaries tax credit provided by this section in stimulat-
ing the growth of diversity in the film industry in the state. Such
report shall include, but need not be limited to, the number of quali-
fied film production companies and/or qualified independent film
production companies which received a television writers' and directors'
fees and salaries credit, the credit amounts claimed by each qualified
film production company and/or qualified independent film production
company, as well as the impact on employment and the economy of the
state. Such report shall be based on data available from the application
filed with the department of economic development for allocation of
television writers' and directors' fees and salaries credits. Notwith-
standing any provision of law to the contrary, the information contained
in the report shall be public information. The report may also include
any recommendations of changes in the calculation or administration of
the credit, and any other recommendation of the commissioner of the
department of economic development regarding continuing modification,
repeal of such act, and such other information regarding the act as the
commissioner of the department of economic development may feel useful
and appropriate.
§ 2. Section 6 of a chapter of the laws of 2019, amending the tax law
relating to a television writers' and directors' fees and salaries cred-
it, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 5864-A and A. 6683-B, is
amended to read as follows:
§ 6. STUDY OF THE UNDERUTILIZATION OF MINORITY AND WOMEN SCREENWRITERS
AND DIRECTORS. 1. STUDY. SUBJECT TO AN APPROPRIATION WHICH SHALL
PROVIDE SUFFICIENT FUNDING NECESSARY TO COMPLETE SUCH STUDY, THE DEPART-
MENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT SHALL SELECT, THROUGH THE REQUEST FOR
PROPOSAL PROCESS, AN ENTITY INDEPENDENT OF SUCH DEPARTMENT WHICH SHALL
SERVE AS SUCH DEPARTMENT'S DESIGNEE FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONDUCTING A
STUDY TO INVESTIGATE THE STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE UNDERUTILIZA-
TION OF MINORITY AND WOMEN SCREENWRITERS AND DIRECTORS. SUCH STUDY SHALL
CONDUCT OR PROVIDE FOR AN EXAMINATION OF, BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO, A
COMPARISON OF AVAILABLE MINORITY AND WOMEN SCREENWRITERS AND DIRECTORS
AGAINST THE SHARE OF SCREENWRITING AND DIRECTING WORK SUCH GROUPS
RECEIVE ON PROJECTS IN NEW YORK STATE TO DEMONSTRATE THE STATISTICALLY
SIGNIFICANT UNDERUTILIZATION OF THAT POPULATION.
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2. REPORT. (A) UPON THE COMPLETION OF THE STUDY CONDUCTED PURSUANT TO
SUBDIVISION ONE OF THIS SECTION, THE DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
SHALL DELIVER A REPORT OF THE FINDINGS OF SUCH STUDY TO THE GOVERNOR,
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE, AND THE SPEAKER OF THE ASSEMBLY
AND POST THE STUDY ON THE WEBSITE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOP-
MENT. (B) IF THE DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DETERMINES THAT THE
STUDY HAS FOUND STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT EVIDENCE OF THE UNDERUTILIZA-
TION OF MINORITY AND WOMEN SCREENWRITERS AND DIRECTORS AGAINST THE SHARE
OF SCREENWRITING AND DIRECTING WORK SUCH GROUPS RECEIVE ON PROJECTS IN
THE STATE, THEN THE DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT SHALL SO NOTIFY
THE GOVERNOR, THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE, THE SPEAKER OF THE
ASSEMBLY, THE COMMISSIONER OF TAXATION AND FINANCE AND THE LEGISLATIVE
BILL DRAFTING COMMISSION.
3. POWERS. ALL OTHER DEPARTMENTS OR AGENCIES OF THE STATE OR SUBDIVI-
SIONS THEREOF, AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS SHALL, AT THE REQUEST OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OR ITS DESIGNEE CHOSEN PURSUANT TO
SUBDIVISION ONE OF THIS SECTION, PROVIDE EXPERTISE, ASSISTANCE, AND/OR
DATA THAT ARE RELEVANT OR MATERIAL TO THE COMPLETION OF THE STUDY
DIRECTED TO BE COMPLETED BY SUBDIVISION ONE OF THIS SECTION AND THE
REPORT DIRECTED TO BE COMPLETED BY SUBDIVISION TWO OF THIS SECTION. THE
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, OR ITS DESIGNEE, SHALL ALSO BE
AUTHORIZED TO OBTAIN RELEVANT INFORMATION FROM ANY RECOGNIZED ENTITIES
REPRESENTING THE TELEVISION INDUSTRY OR SEGMENTS THEREOF TOWARDS THE
COMPLETION OF SUCH STUDY.
§ 7. This act shall take effect immediately, [and shall apply to taxa-
ble years beginning on or after January 1, 2020] PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT
THE PROVISIONS OF SECTIONS ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, AND FIVE OF THIS ACT
SHALL TAKE EFFECT ON THE FIRST OF JANUARY NEXT SUCCEEDING THE DATE THE
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROVIDES NOTICE TO THE LEGISLATIVE
BILL DRAFTING COMMISSION OF A DETERMINATION PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH (B) OF
SUBDIVISION TWO OF SECTION SIX OF THIS ACT AND SHALL APPLY TO TAXABLE
YEARS ON AND AFTER SUCH DATE; PROVIDED THAT THE DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT SHALL NOTIFY THE LEGISLATIVE BILL DRAFTING COMMISSION UPON
THE OCCURRENCE OF THE SUBMISSION OF THE REPORT PROVIDED FOR IN PARAGRAPH
(B) OF SUBDIVISION TWO OF SECTION SIX OF THIS ACT IN ORDER THAT THE
COMMISSION MAY MAINTAIN AN ACCURATE AND TIMELY EFFECTIVE DATA BASE OF
THE OFFICIAL TEXT OF THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK IN FURTHERANCE OF
EFFECTUATING THE PROVISIONS OF SECTION 44 OF THE LEGISLATIVE LAW AND
SECTION 70-B OF THE PUBLIC OFFICERS LAW. EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, THE
ADDITION, AMENDMENT AND/OR REPEAL OF ANY RULE OR REGULATION NECESSARY
FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS ACT ON ITS EFFECTIVE DATE ARE AUTHORIZED
TO BE MADE AND COMPLETED ON OR BEFORE SUCH EFFECTIVE DATE.
§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however that
section one of this act and section 6 of a chapter of the laws of 2019,
amending the tax law relating to a television writers' and directors'
fees and salaries credit, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S.
5864-A and A. 6683-B, as amended by section two of this act shall take
effect on the same date and in the same manner as such chapter of the
laws of 2019, takes effect.