STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7772
IN SENATE
June 18, 2012
___________
Introduced by Sen. ZELDIN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to creating a telecommunication
and cable industry New York jobs tax credit
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The tax law is amended by adding a new section 37 to read
2 as follows:
3 § 37. Telecommunication and cable industry New York jobs tax credit.
4 (a) Allowance of credit. An eligible taxpayer shall be allowed a credit,
5 of twenty percent of the qualified wages. The taxpayer may claim this
6 credit for each new employee for a period of three consecutive years of
7 employment.
8 (b) Definitions. (1) "Eligible taxpayer" means every telecommunication
9 and cable corporation and their subsidiaries furnishing traditional
10 landline telephone service, fiber optic service, voice over internet
11 protocol (VOIP), data circuits, cable or internet services.
12 (2) "Call center assistance job" shall mean the creation of or relo-
13 cation of new call center service assistance jobs in New York state
14 including, but not limited to operator services, directory assistance
15 bureaus and call completion services for the following:
16 (A) Determining customer financial responsibility;
17 (B) Taking requests for new or additional services, including, but not
18 limited to, emergency service, completing assistance with dialing, using
19 calling cards, connecting collect calls, busy line verification or relay
20 centers for the hearing impaired, providing requested local and national
21 telephone numbers, reverse number searches and taking requests for and
22 completing the publishing and non-publishing of a telephone number, and
23 providing assistance to payphone customers;
24 (C) Determining deposit required or billing rate;
25 (D) Preparing installation and repair service orders and obtaining
26 access to subscriber's premises;
27 (E) Explaining company rates, regulations, policies, procedures,
28 equipment and common practices;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD16242-06-2
S. 7772 2
1 (F) Investigating trouble order forms and initiating high bill inves-
2 tigations;
3 (G) Handling payment and other credit arrangements such as obtaining
4 deposits, financial statements and payment plans; and
5 (H) Aiding customers with internal assistance programs means any
6 company, firm or business organization that invests application of cred-
7 it; provided that the amount of gross wages paid by the taxpayer to the
8 employees for whom credit is allowable under this section.
9 (3) "Qualified wages" shall mean gross wages paid to any new employee
10 during the taxable year which meets the definition of a call center
11 assistance job.
12 (4) "New employee" shall mean any full time employee that is hired by
13 the taxpayer after July first, two thousand twelve that causes the total
14 number of employees to increase above base employment or credit employ-
15 ment, whichever is higher, who is doing the same or substantially simi-
16 lar work, and at the pay rate and benefit level of other call center
17 service assistance jobs in the geographic area within New York state, in
18 the corporation and their subsidiaries.
19 (5) "Base year" shall mean calendar year two thousand eleven.
20 (6) "Base employment" shall mean the average number of full time
21 employees or full time equivalent employees during the base year. For a
22 new business, base employment shall begin at zero.
23 (7) "Credit employment" shall mean base employment plus the number of
24 new employees for which a credit is earned for the prior tax years.
25 (c) Cross-references. For application of the credit provided in this
26 section, see the following provisions of this chapter:
27 (1) Article 9: section 187-s
28 (2) Article 9-A: section 210: subdivision 45
29 § 2. Section 210 of the tax law is amended by adding a new subdivision
30 45 to read as follows:
31 45. Telecommunication and cable industry New York jobs tax credit. (a)
32 Allowance of credit. A taxpayer will be allowed a credit, to be computed
33 as provided in section thirty-seven of this chapter, against the tax
34 imposed by this article.
35 (b) Application of credit. The credit allowed under this subdivision
36 for any taxable year may not reduce the tax due for such year to less
37 than the higher of the amounts prescribed in paragraphs (c) and (d) of
38 subdivision one of this section. However, if the amount of credit
39 allowed under this subdivision for any taxable year reduces the tax to
40 such amount, any excess amount of credit thus not deductible in such
41 taxable year may be carried over to the following year or years, for a
42 maximum of ten consecutive years.
43 § 3. The tax law is amended by adding a new section 187-s to read as
44 follows:
45 § 187-s. Telecommunication and cable industry New York jobs tax cred-
46 it. 1. Allowance of credit. A taxpayer, subject to the tax imposed by
47 this article, which is a telecommunication or cable company shall be
48 allowed a credit, to be computed as provided in section thirty-seven of
49 this chapter, against the tax imposed by section one hundred
50 eighty-six-a of this article.
51 2. Application of credit. If the amount of credit allowed under this
52 section for any taxable year exceeds the taxpayer's tax for such year,
53 any amount of credit thus not deductible may be carried forward to the
54 following year or years, for a maximum of ten consecutive years.
55 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to taxable
56 years beginning on and after January 1, 2012.
