S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
2967
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
I N S E N A T E
January 26, 2021
___________
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:
Section 1. Paragraph 5 of subdivision (a) of section 24 of the tax
law, as amended by section 5-a of part M of chapter 59 of the laws of
2020, is amended to read as follows:
(5) For the period two thousand fifteen through two thousand twenty-
five, 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-
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03727-01-1
S. 2967 2
ton, Wayne, Wyoming, [or] Yates, OR ANY AREA IN THE COUNTIES OF ROCKLAND
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-five 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-five.
§ 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.