Legislation
SECTION 31*2
Empire state film post production credit
Tax (TAX) CHAPTER 60, ARTICLE 1
* § 31. Empire state film post production credit. (a) Allowance of
credit. (1) A taxpayer which is a qualified film production company, and
which is subject to tax under article nine-A or twenty-two of this
chapter, unless eligible for the credit under section twenty-four of
this article with respect to the qualified film, shall be allowed a
credit against such tax, pursuant to the provisions referenced in
subdivision (c) of this section to be computed as provided in this
subdivision.
(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 twenty-five
percent and the qualified post production costs paid in the production
of a qualified film at a qualified post production facility located
within the metropolitan commuter transportation district as defined in
section twelve hundred sixty-two of the public authorities law or thirty
percent and the qualified post production costs paid in the production
of a qualified film at a qualified post production facility located
elsewhere in the state.
(3) (i) A taxpayer shall not be eligible for the credit established by
this section for qualified post production costs, excluding the costs
for visual effects and animation, unless the qualified post production
costs, excluding the costs for visual effects and animation, at a
qualified post production facility meet or exceed seventy-five percent
of the total post production costs, excluding the costs for visual
effects and animation, paid or incurred in the post production of the
qualified film at any post production facility. (ii) A taxpayer shall
not be eligible for the credit established by this section for qualified
post production costs which are costs for visual effects or animation
unless the qualified post production costs for visual effects or
animation at a qualified post production facility meet or exceed three
million dollars or twenty percent of the total post production costs for
visual effects or animation paid or incurred in the post production of a
qualified film at any post production facility, whichever is less. (iii)
A taxpayer may claim a credit for qualified post production costs
excluding the costs for visual effects and animation, and for qualified
post production costs of visual effects and animation, provided that the
criteria in subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of this paragraph are both
satisfied. The credit shall be allowed for the taxable year in which the
production of such qualified film is completed.
(4) No qualified post production costs used by a taxpayer either as
the basis for the allowance of the credit provided for under this
section or used in the calculation of the credit provided for under this
section shall be used by such taxpayer to claim any other credit allowed
pursuant to this chapter.
(5) If the amount of the credit is at least one million dollars but
less than five million dollars, the credit shall be claimed over a two
year period beginning in the first taxable year in which the credit may
be claimed and in the next succeeding taxable year, with one-half of the
amount of credit allowed being claimed in each year. If the amount of
the credit is at least five million dollars, the credit shall be claimed
over a three year period beginning in the first taxable year in which
the credit may be claimed and in the next two succeeding taxable years,
with one-third of the amount of the credit allowed being claimed in each
year.
(6) For the period two thousand fifteen through two thousand
twenty-nine, 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 background actors with no scripted lines) for services
performed by those individuals in one of the counties specified in this
paragraph in connection with the post production work on a qualified
film with a minimum budget of five hundred thousand dollars at a
qualified post production facility in one of the counties listed in this
paragraph. For purposes of this additional credit, the services must be
performed in one or more of the following counties: Albany, Allegany,
Broome, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Chemung, Chenango, Clinton,
Columbia, Cortland, Delaware, Dutchess, 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, Washington, Wayne, Wyoming, or Yates. 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-nine of the annual
allocation made available to the empire state film post production
credit pursuant to paragraph four of subdivision (e) of section
twenty-four of this article. 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 application for allocation of post 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 for two
thousand seventeen made available to the empire state film post
production credit pursuant to paragraph four of subdivision (e) of
section twenty-four of this article. 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 twenty-four of this
article exceed five million dollars in any year during the period two
thousand fifteen through two thousand twenty-nine.
(b) Definitions. As used in this section the following terms shall
have the following meanings:
(1) "Qualified film production company" and "qualified film" shall
have the same meaning as are ascribed to such terms by section
twenty-four of this article.
(2) "Post production costs" means production of original content for a
qualified film employing traditional, emerging and new workflow
techniques used in post-production for picture, sound and music
editorial, rerecording and mixing, visual effects, graphic design,
original scoring, animation, and musical composition; but shall not
include the editing of previously produced content for a qualified film.
(3) "Post production facility" means a building and/or complex of
buildings and their improvements on which film are intended to be post
produced.
(4) "Qualified post production facility" means a post production
facility located in the state, engaged in finishing a qualified film.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the
aggregate amount of tax credits available under this section shall not
exceed the amounts allowed pursuant to paragraph four of subdivision (e)
of section twenty-four of this article and shall be allocated in the
same manner as provided for in paragraph one of subdivision (e) of
section twenty-four of this article.
(d) 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 32.
(2) article 22: section 606: subsection (qq).
(e) With regard to certificates of tax credit issued on or after
January first, two thousand twenty, the commissioner of economic
development shall reduce by one-quarter of one percent the amount of
credit allowed to a taxpayer and this reduced amount shall be reported
on a certificate of tax credit issued pursuant to this section and the
regulations promulgated by the commissioner of economic development to
implement this credit program. Such reductions in tax credit shall be
deposited into the empire state entertainment diversity job training
development fund as provided in subdivision (f) of section twenty-four
of this article.
* NB There are 2 § 31's
credit. (1) A taxpayer which is a qualified film production company, and
which is subject to tax under article nine-A or twenty-two of this
chapter, unless eligible for the credit under section twenty-four of
this article with respect to the qualified film, shall be allowed a
credit against such tax, pursuant to the provisions referenced in
subdivision (c) of this section to be computed as provided in this
subdivision.
(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 twenty-five
percent and the qualified post production costs paid in the production
of a qualified film at a qualified post production facility located
within the metropolitan commuter transportation district as defined in
section twelve hundred sixty-two of the public authorities law or thirty
percent and the qualified post production costs paid in the production
of a qualified film at a qualified post production facility located
elsewhere in the state.
(3) (i) A taxpayer shall not be eligible for the credit established by
this section for qualified post production costs, excluding the costs
for visual effects and animation, unless the qualified post production
costs, excluding the costs for visual effects and animation, at a
qualified post production facility meet or exceed seventy-five percent
of the total post production costs, excluding the costs for visual
effects and animation, paid or incurred in the post production of the
qualified film at any post production facility. (ii) A taxpayer shall
not be eligible for the credit established by this section for qualified
post production costs which are costs for visual effects or animation
unless the qualified post production costs for visual effects or
animation at a qualified post production facility meet or exceed three
million dollars or twenty percent of the total post production costs for
visual effects or animation paid or incurred in the post production of a
qualified film at any post production facility, whichever is less. (iii)
A taxpayer may claim a credit for qualified post production costs
excluding the costs for visual effects and animation, and for qualified
post production costs of visual effects and animation, provided that the
criteria in subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of this paragraph are both
satisfied. The credit shall be allowed for the taxable year in which the
production of such qualified film is completed.
(4) No qualified post production costs used by a taxpayer either as
the basis for the allowance of the credit provided for under this
section or used in the calculation of the credit provided for under this
section shall be used by such taxpayer to claim any other credit allowed
pursuant to this chapter.
(5) If the amount of the credit is at least one million dollars but
less than five million dollars, the credit shall be claimed over a two
year period beginning in the first taxable year in which the credit may
be claimed and in the next succeeding taxable year, with one-half of the
amount of credit allowed being claimed in each year. If the amount of
the credit is at least five million dollars, the credit shall be claimed
over a three year period beginning in the first taxable year in which
the credit may be claimed and in the next two succeeding taxable years,
with one-third of the amount of the credit allowed being claimed in each
year.
(6) For the period two thousand fifteen through two thousand
twenty-nine, 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 background actors with no scripted lines) for services
performed by those individuals in one of the counties specified in this
paragraph in connection with the post production work on a qualified
film with a minimum budget of five hundred thousand dollars at a
qualified post production facility in one of the counties listed in this
paragraph. For purposes of this additional credit, the services must be
performed in one or more of the following counties: Albany, Allegany,
Broome, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Chemung, Chenango, Clinton,
Columbia, Cortland, Delaware, Dutchess, 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, Washington, Wayne, Wyoming, or Yates. 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-nine of the annual
allocation made available to the empire state film post production
credit pursuant to paragraph four of subdivision (e) of section
twenty-four of this article. 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 application for allocation of post 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 for two
thousand seventeen made available to the empire state film post
production credit pursuant to paragraph four of subdivision (e) of
section twenty-four of this article. 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 twenty-four of this
article exceed five million dollars in any year during the period two
thousand fifteen through two thousand twenty-nine.
(b) Definitions. As used in this section the following terms shall
have the following meanings:
(1) "Qualified film production company" and "qualified film" shall
have the same meaning as are ascribed to such terms by section
twenty-four of this article.
(2) "Post production costs" means production of original content for a
qualified film employing traditional, emerging and new workflow
techniques used in post-production for picture, sound and music
editorial, rerecording and mixing, visual effects, graphic design,
original scoring, animation, and musical composition; but shall not
include the editing of previously produced content for a qualified film.
(3) "Post production facility" means a building and/or complex of
buildings and their improvements on which film are intended to be post
produced.
(4) "Qualified post production facility" means a post production
facility located in the state, engaged in finishing a qualified film.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the
aggregate amount of tax credits available under this section shall not
exceed the amounts allowed pursuant to paragraph four of subdivision (e)
of section twenty-four of this article and shall be allocated in the
same manner as provided for in paragraph one of subdivision (e) of
section twenty-four of this article.
(d) 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 32.
(2) article 22: section 606: subsection (qq).
(e) With regard to certificates of tax credit issued on or after
January first, two thousand twenty, the commissioner of economic
development shall reduce by one-quarter of one percent the amount of
credit allowed to a taxpayer and this reduced amount shall be reported
on a certificate of tax credit issued pursuant to this section and the
regulations promulgated by the commissioner of economic development to
implement this credit program. Such reductions in tax credit shall be
deposited into the empire state entertainment diversity job training
development fund as provided in subdivision (f) of section twenty-four
of this article.
* NB There are 2 § 31's