Provides a one-year payroll tax credit for compensation of journalists; sets a maximum amount of the credit for journalist employers and a maximum amount of the credit statewide; provides for the repeal of such provisions upon the expiration thereof.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
625--D
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 5, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sens. HOYLMAN-SIGAL, ADDABBO, ASHBY, BORRELLO, BRESLIN,
BROUK, CHU, CLEARE, COMRIE, COONEY, FERNANDEZ, HARCKHAM, HINCHEY,
JACKSON, KENNEDY, LIU, MANNION, MARTINEZ, MYRIE, PALUMBO, RIVERA,
SALAZAR, SEPULVEDA, SERRANO, SKOUFIS, STAVISKY -- read twice and
ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on
Budget and Revenue -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee -- recommitted to the Committee on Budget and Reven-
ue in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged,
bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said
committee -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to providing a payroll tax
credit for compensation of journalists; and providing for the repeal
of such provisions upon expiration thereof
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "local
2 journalism sustainability act".
3 § 2. The tax law is amended by adding a new section 24-d to read as
4 follows:
5 § 24-d. Payroll credit for compensation of journalists. (a) In gener-
6 al. An eligible news journalist employer which is subject to tax under
7 article nine-A or twenty-two of this chapter shall be allowed a credit
8 against such tax, to be computed as provided in this section, for each
9 calendar quarter an amount equal to the applicable percentage of wages
10 paid by such employer to news journalists for such calendar quarter.
11 (b) Limitations. (1) The amount of wages paid with respect to any
12 individual which may be taken into account under subdivision (a) of this
13 section during any calendar quarter by the eligible news journalist
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02644-12-4
S. 625--D 2
1 employer shall not exceed twelve thousand five hundred dollars. Credit
2 is allowed for individuals paid in excess of this amount but shall be
3 limited to a portion of the wages paid up to twelve thousand five
4 hundred dollars per quarter.
5 (2) The provisions of this section shall only apply to the first four
6 calendar quarters beginning after the effective date of this section.
7 (3) This section shall not apply with respect to any eligible news
8 journalist employer for any calendar quarter if such employer elects (at
9 such time and in such manner as the commissioner may prescribe) not to
10 have this section apply.
11 (4) Any wages taken into account in determining the credit allowed
12 under this section shall not be taken into account for purposes of
13 determining any other credit allowed under this chapter.
14 (5) The credit allowable under this section shall be allowable for a
15 period of one year from the effective date of this section. No credit
16 shall be allowed under this section for any amount paid or incurred by
17 the taxpayer in a taxable year commencing after the close of the one-
18 year period. No credit shall be allowed under this section for any
19 portion of an amount paid or incurred by the taxpayer in a taxable year
20 for any wages that extend beyond the close of the one-year period begin-
21 ning on the effective date of this section.
22 (c) Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms shall
23 have the following meanings:
24 (1) "Applicable percentage" means fifty percent.
25 (2) (A) "Eligible news journalist employer" means, with respect to any
26 calendar quarter, any employer which: (i) is a qualifying publication or
27 a qualifying broadcast station; (ii) employs news journalists; and (iii)
28 employs a total of one hundred employees or fewer.
29 (B) All persons treated as a single employer under subsection (a) or
30 (b) of section 52 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or subsection
31 (m) or (o) of section 414 of such Code, shall be treated as one employer
32 for purposes of this paragraph; provided that each FCC licensed broad-
33 cast station or qualifying publication which serves a separate market
34 shall be treated as a separate and single news journalist employer for
35 the purposes of this tax credit.
36 (3) (A) "Qualifying broadcast station" means, with respect to any
37 calendar quarter, any employer which:
38 (i) provides local community news, which is broadcast during the
39 calendar quarter and has been broadcast during each of the four calendar
40 quarters preceding such calendar quarter;
41 (ii) owns or operates a broadcast station, as defined by section three
42 of the federal communications act of 1934;
43 (iii) is not a disqualified organization;
44 (iv) did not derive more than fifty percent of its gross receipts for
45 such calendar quarter from disqualified organizations; and
46 (v) discloses its ownership to the public at such times and in such
47 manner as identified by the commissioner.
48 (B) For purposes of this paragraph each FCC licensed broadcast station
49 serving a separate market shall be treated as a separate and single news
50 journalist employer.
51 (4) "News journalist" means, with respect to any eligible news jour-
52 nalist for any calendar quarter, any full time employee who (A) provides
53 qualified services for an average of not less than thirty hours per week
54 for each week during which such employee is employed by the eligible
55 news journalist employer during the calendar quarter, and (B) resides
56 within the designated broadcast market or fifty miles of the local
S. 625--D 3
1 community with respect to the qualifying publication or qualifying
2 broadcast station with respect to which the qualified services are
3 provided.
4 (5) "Qualified services" means services which consist of gathering,
5 preparing, directing the recording of, producing, collecting, photo-
6 graphing, recording, writing, editing, reporting, presenting or
7 publishing original news for dissemination to the local community.
8 (6) "Qualifying publication" means, with respect to any calendar quar-
9 ter, any print or digital publication:
10 (A) which provides local community news, which is published during the
11 calendar quarter and has been published during each of the four calendar
12 quarters preceding such calendar quarter;
13 (B) is not a disqualified organization;
14 (C) did not derive more than fifty percent of its gross receipts for
15 such calendar quarter from disqualified organizations;
16 (D) which is covered by media liability insurance for such calendar
17 quarter; and
18 (E) which publishes the owner's name pursuant to section three hundred
19 thirty of the general business law, provided that a digital publication
20 shall publish the information required by such section on the website of
21 such publication.
22 (7) (A) "Local community" means, with respect to any qualifying publi-
23 cation, a geographically contiguous area that does not exceed the bound-
24 aries of:
25 (i) the metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area, as defined by
26 the federal Office of Management and Budget, in which the qualifying
27 publication is primarily distributed;
28 (ii) if such qualifying publication is not primarily distributed in a
29 metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area, the county in which such
30 qualifying publication is primarily distributed; or
31 (iii) if such qualifying publication is not primarily distributed in a
32 metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area or a county, the state.
33 (B) A digital publication shall be considered to be primarily distrib-
34 uted in the area where such publication is intended to be primarily
35 consumed.
36 (8) "Disqualified organization" means:
37 (A) any organization described in section 501(c)(4) of the internal
38 revenue code and exempt from tax under section 501(a) of such code;
39 (B) any organization described in section 527 of the internal revenue
40 code; or
41 (C) any organization that is controlled, directly or indirectly, by
42 one or more organizations described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of this
43 paragraph.
44 (d) Maximum amount of credits. The maximum amount of tax credits
45 allowed under this section, subdivision sixty of section two hundred
46 ten-B and subsection (w) of section six hundred six of this chapter in
47 any calendar year shall be two hundred thousand dollars per eligible
48 news journalist employer. The maximum amount of tax credits allowed
49 under this section, subdivision sixty of section two hundred ten-B and
50 subsection (w) of section six hundred six of this chapter for all
51 taxpayers in the state is twenty million dollars.
52 (e) Administration. The commissioner shall issue such forms,
53 instructions, regulations, and guidance as are necessary:
54 (1) to allow the advance payment of the credit under subdivision (a)
55 of this section, subject to the limitations provided in this section,
56 based on such information as the commissioner shall require;
S. 625--D 4
1 (2) to provide for the reconciliation of such advance payment with the
2 amount advanced at the time of filing the return of tax for the applica-
3 ble calendar quarter or taxable year; and
4 (3) with respect to the application of the credit under subdivision
5 (a) of this section to third-party payors (including professional
6 employer organizations, certified professional employer organizations,
7 or agents under section 3504 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986),
8 including regulations or guidance allowing such payors to submit
9 documentation necessary to substantiate the eligible employer status of
10 employers that use such payors.
11 (f) Treatment of deposits. The commissioner shall waive any penalty
12 under this chapter for any failure to make a deposit of any applicable
13 employment taxes if the commissioner determines that such failure was
14 due to the reasonable anticipation of the credit allowed under this
15 section.
16 (g) Cross-references. For application of the credit provided for in
17 this section, see the following provisions of this chapter:
18 (1) article 9-A: section 210-B: subdivision 60.
19 (2) article 22: section 606: subsections (i) and (w).
20 § 3. Section 210-B of the tax law is amended by adding a new subdivi-
21 sion 60 to read as follows:
22 60. Payroll credit for compensation of journalists. (a) Allowance of
23 credit. A taxpayer who is eligible pursuant to section twenty-four-d of
24 this chapter shall be allowed a credit to be computed as provided in
25 such section against the tax imposed by this article.
26 (b) Application of credit. The credit allowed under this subdivision
27 for any taxable year shall not reduce the tax due for such year to less
28 than the amount prescribed in paragraph (d) of subdivision one of
29 section two hundred ten of this article; provided, however, that if the
30 amount of the credit allowable under this subdivision for any taxable
31 year reduces the tax to such amount or if the taxpayer otherwise pays
32 tax based on the fixed dollar minimum amount, the excess shall be treat-
33 ed as an overpayment of tax to be credited or refunded in accordance
34 with the provisions of section one thousand eighty-six of this chapter;
35 and provided, further, that the provisions of subsection (c) of section
36 one thousand eighty-eight of this chapter notwithstanding, no interest
37 shall be paid thereon.
38 § 4. Section 606 of the tax law is amended by adding a new subsection
39 (w) to read as follows:
40 (w) Payroll credit for compensation of journalists. (1) Allowance of
41 credit. A taxpayer who is eligible pursuant to section twenty-four-d of
42 this chapter shall be allowed a credit to be computed as provided in
43 such section against the tax imposed by this article.
44 (2) Application of credit. If the amount of the credit allowable under
45 this subsection for any taxable year exceeds the taxpayer's tax for such
46 year, the excess shall be treated as an overpayment of tax to be credit-
47 ed or refunded as provided in section six hundred eighty-six of this
48 article; provided, however, that no interest shall be paid thereon.
49 § 5. Subparagraph (B) of paragraph 1 of subsection (i) of section 606
50 of the tax law is amended by adding a new clause (li) to read as
51 follows:
52 (li) Payroll credit forAmount of credit for the sum of
53 compensation of journalistspayroll credit for compensation
54 under subsection (w)of journalists under subdivision
55 sixty of section
56 two hundred ten-B
S. 625--D 5
1 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to tax
2 years commencing on and after January 1, 2024; provided that:
3 (a) this act shall expire and be deemed repealed January 1, 2025; and
4 (b) the expiration and repeal of this act shall not affect the proc-
5 essing or allowance of any tax credit provided in this act for any tax
6 year commencing prior to January 1, 2025.
7 Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any
8 rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its
9 effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such
10 date.