S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7628
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                               May 14, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  MAGNARELLI  -- read once and referred to the
   Committee on Ways and Means
 
 AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to increasing the amount of the
   taxpayer empire state film production credit
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section  1.  Paragraph  5  of subdivision (a) of section 24 of the tax
 law, as amended by section 1 of part SSS of chapter 59 of  the  laws  of
 2019, is amended to read as follows:
   (5)  For  the period two thousand fifteen through two thousand twenty-
 four, 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 back-
 ground actors with no scripted lines) by  a  qualified  film  production
 company  or a qualified independent film production company for services
 performed by those individuals in one of the counties specified in  this
 paragraph  in  connection with a qualified film with a minimum budget of
 five hundred thousand dollars. 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, Sulli-
 van, 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] FIFTEEN million dollars each
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD11503-01-9

 A. 7628                             2
 
 year during the period two thousand fifteen through two  thousand  twen-
 ty-four  of the annual allocation made available to the program pursuant
 to paragraph four of subdivision (e) of  this  section.  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  film
 production  credit  with such office.   If the total amount of allocated
 credits applied for under this paragraph in any year exceeds the  aggre-
 gate  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 made available to the program pursuant to paragraph  four  of
 subdivision  (e)  of this section. 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 thirty-one of this
 article exceed [five] FIFTEEN million dollars in  any  year  during  the
 period two thousand fifteen through two thousand twenty-four.
   §  2.  Paragraph 2 of subdivision (b) of section 24 of the tax law, as
 added by section 1 of part P of chapter 60  of  the  laws  of  2004,  is
 amended to read as follows:
   (2)  "Production costs" means any costs for tangible property used and
 services performed directly and predominantly in the production (includ-
 ing  pre-production  and  post  production)   of   a   qualified   film.
 "Production  costs"  shall  not include (i) costs for a story, script or
 scenario to be used for a qualified film and (ii) wages or  salaries  or
 other  compensation  for  writers, directors, including music directors,
 producers and performers (other than background actors with no  scripted
 lines)  PROVIDED,  HOWEVER,  SUCH COSTS OTHERWISE EXCLUDED IN THIS PARA-
 GRAPH SHALL BE ELIGIBLE AS PRODUCTION COSTS IF SUCH COSTS  ARE  NO  MORE
 THAN  THE STANDARD COMPENSATION RATES SET EITHER BY THE WRITERS GUILD OF
 AMERICA, THE DIRECTORS GUILD OF AMERICA OR THE SCREEN ACTORS  GUILD  AND
 ARE  DIRECTLY  RELATED  TO  THE  SERVICE PERFORMED IN ONE OR MORE OF THE
 COUNTIES LISTED IN PARAGRAPH FIVE OF SUBDIVISION (A)  OF  THIS  SECTION.
 "Production  costs"  generally  include  technical  and  crew production
 costs, such as expenditures for film production facilities, or any  part
 thereof, props, makeup, wardrobe, film processing, camera, sound record-
 ing, set construction, lighting, shooting, editing and meals.
   § 3. This act shall take effect April 1, 2020.