N.Y. Tax Law § 31*2: Empire state film post production credit

* § 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 thirty

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-five 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 one million dollars or

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,

whichever is less. (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 five hundred thousand dollars or ten

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. Provided, however, in the case of a qualified film for which the

taxpayer filed an initial application on or after January first, two

thousand twenty-five, the credit shall be claimed for the taxable year

in which such qualified film is completed.

(6) For the period two thousand fifteen through two thousand

thirty-six, 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, composers, producers and performers, other than

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.

(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) "Qualified 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 in the state; 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.

(f) Credit recapture. If a certificate of tax credit issued by the

department of economic development pursuant to this section is revoked

by such department because the taxpayer does not meet the eligibility

requirements of this section, the amount of credit described in this

section and claimed by the taxpayer prior to that revocation shall be

added back to tax in the taxable year in which any such revocation

becomes final.

* NB There are 2 § 31's