NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A9415
SPONSOR: Gunther TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the tax law, in relation to increasing
the number of counties in which services can be performed to qualify for
the empire state film production credit
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this legislation is to create an additional 10% Film
Production Tax Credit for the counties that are both outside of the New
York City studio zone and ineligible for the current 10% incentive.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one amends paragraph 5 of subdivision (a) of section 24 of the
tax law to include additional counties in the 10% Film Production Tax
Credit.
Section two is the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
In an effort to boost film production in other parts of the state,
particularly economically struggling upstate New York, the 2013-14 state
budget created an additional 10% Film Production Tax Credit for
production companies who film (or production's filmed) in forty upstate
counties (two counties, Albany and Schenectady, were subsequently added
in the 2014-15 budget). This incentive has worked. Production companies
are now filming in upstate New York because most or all of the extra
costs associated with filming outside of the studio zone are being
offset with this additional tax credit.
While this incentive has had a positive impact on the film industry
upstate, it has unfortunately had a negative impact on other parts of
the state, namely, the Hudson Valley and parts of the Capital Region and
Long Island. These areas, which are both outside of the New York City
studio zone and ineligible for the additional 10% incentive, are becom-
ing "film fly over" counties. These counties include: Warren, Saratoga,
Washington, Rensselaer, Greene, Columbia, Ulster, Dutchess, Sullivan,
Orange, Putnam and Suffolk. These counties we represent simply cannot
afford to be off-limits to this important and lucrative industry.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9415
IN ASSEMBLY
March 3, 2016
___________
Introduced by M. of A. GUNTHER -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Ways and Means
AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to increasing the number of
counties in which services can be performed to qualify for the empire
state film production credit
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph 5 of subdivision (a) of section 24 of the tax
2 law, as amended by section 1 of part JJ of chapter 59 of the laws of
3 2014, is amended to read as follows:
4 (5) For the period two thousand fifteen through two thousand nineteen,
5 in addition to the amount of credit established in paragraph two of this
6 subdivision, a taxpayer shall be allowed a credit equal to the product
7 (or pro rata share of the product, in the case of a member of a partner-
8 ship) of ten percent and the amount of wages or salaries paid to indi-
9 viduals directly employed (excluding those employed as writers, direc-
10 tors, music directors, producers and performers, including background
11 actors with no scripted lines) by a qualified film production company or
12 a qualified independent film production company for services performed
13 by those individuals in one of the counties specified in this paragraph
14 in connection with a qualified film with a minimum budget of five
15 hundred thousand dollars. For purposes of this additional credit, the
16 services must be performed in one or more of the following counties:
17 Albany, Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Chemung,
18 Chenango, Clinton, Columbia, Cortland, Delaware, Dutchess, Erie, Essex,
19 Franklin, Fulton, Genesee, Greene, Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis,
20 Livingston, Madison, Monroe, Montgomery, Niagara, Oneida, Onondaga,
21 Ontario, Orange, Orleans, Oswego, Otsego, Putnam, Rensselaer, Saratoga,
22 Schenectady, Schoharie, Schuyler, Seneca, St. Lawrence, Steuben,
23 Suffolk, Sullivan, Tioga, Tompkins, Ulster, Warren, Washington, Wayne,
24 Wyoming, or Yates. The aggregate amount of tax credits allowed pursuant
25 to the authority of this paragraph shall be five million dollars each
26 year during the period two thousand fifteen through two thousand nine-
27 teen of the annual allocation made available to the program pursuant to
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14462-01-6
A. 9415 2
1 paragraph four of subdivision (e) of this section. Such aggregate amount
2 of credits shall be allocated by the governor's office for motion
3 picture and television development among taxpayers in order of priority
4 based upon the date of filing an application for allocation of film
5 production credit with such office. If the total amount of allocated
6 credits applied for under this paragraph in any year exceeds the aggre-
7 gate amount of tax credits allowed for such year under this paragraph,
8 such excess shall be treated as having been applied for on the first day
9 of the next year. If the total amount of allocated tax credits applied
10 for under this paragraph at the conclusion of any year is less than five
11 million dollars, the remainder shall be treated as part of the annual
12 allocation made available to the program pursuant to paragraph four of
13 subdivision (e) of this section. However, in no event may the total of
14 the credits allocated under this paragraph and the credits allocated
15 under paragraph five of subdivision (a) of section thirty-one of this
16 article exceed five million dollars in any year during the period two
17 thousand fifteen through two thousand nineteen.
18 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
