NY State Senate Bill 2019-S4349

Senate Bill S4349

2019-2020 Legislative Session

Defines film zone and excludes the film zone from the additional empire state film production credit

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Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Investigations And Government Operations Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 08, 2020	referred to investigations and government operations
Mar 08, 2019	referred to investigations and government operations

co-Sponsors

2019-S4349 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A3883
Current Committee:: Senate Investigations And Government Operations
Law Section:: Tax Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §24, Tax L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2017-2018: A8463
2021-2022: S2967, A1120
2023-2024: S58, A1253

2019-S4349 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Defines film zone and excludes the film zone from the additional empire state film production credit.

2019-S4349 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S4349

SPONSOR: HARCKHAM
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the tax law, in relation to the definition of film zone
and the exclusion of the film zone from the additional empire state film
production credit

 
PURPOSE:

This bill will add areas of Rockland and Westchester which are outside
the "film zone" to the additional empire state film production credit.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one of the bill amends paragraph 5 of subdivision (a) of section
24 of the tax law as it relates to including areas of Rockland or West-
chester counties not located within the film zone as part of the addi-
tional empire state film production credit.

Section two of the bill amends subdivision (b) of section 24 at the tax
law as it relates to adding the definition of film zone.

Section three of the bill relates to the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

In 2013, in an effort to provide an economic boost to certain areas of
the state, an additional 10% film production tax credit was created to
incentivize filming in certain upstate counties. Since the creation of
this additional film credit, other counties have been subsequently added
with all counties north of New York City eligible except Rockland and
Westchester counties.

The film industry uses a film zone which requires productions outside a
25 mile radius of New York City to pay additional labor rates. These
productions outside the film zone (25 miles outside Columbus Circle) are
more expensive to film given the additional labor costs and the lack of
the additional film credit. There are portions of both Rockland and
Westchester counties which are outside the film zone and are not eligi-
ble for the additional 10% tax credit; creating a severe disadvantage to
areas that receive the additional credit and areas within the film zone.
This bill will create parity by incentivizing filming in the areas in
Rockland and Westchester that fall outside the 25 mile film zone.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

A.8463 of 2017-18

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2019-S4349 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   4349
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               March 8, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by Sen. HARCKHAM -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Investigations and Govern-
   ment Operations
 
 AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to the definition of film  zone
   and  the  exclusion  of the film zone from the additional 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 M of chapter  59  of  the  laws  of
 2017, is amended to read as follows:
   (5)  For  the period two thousand fifteen through two thousand twenty-
 two, 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 OR AREAS 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 OR AREAS:  Albany, Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chau-
 tauqua, Chemung, Chenango, Clinton, Columbia, Cortland, Delaware, Dutch-
 ess, 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,  Washing-
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD06480-01-9

 S. 4349                             2
 
 ton, Wayne, Wyoming, [or] Yates, OR ANY AREA IN THE COUNTIES OF ROCKLAND
 OR WESTCHESTER WHICH IS NOT LOCATED IN THE FILM ZONE AS DEFINED IN PARA-
 GRAPH  NINE OF SUBDIVISION (B) OF THIS SECTION.  The aggregate amount of
 tax credits allowed pursuant to the authority of this paragraph shall be
 five  million  dollars  each year during the period two thousand fifteen
 through two thousand twenty-two 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 applica-
 tion 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 aggregate 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 million  dollars  in  any
 year  during  the period two thousand fifteen through two thousand twen-
 ty-two.
   § 2. Subdivision (b) of section 24 of the tax law is amended by adding
 a new paragraph 9 to read as follows:
   (9) "FILM ZONE" SHALL MEAN AN AREA WITHIN A TWENTY-FIVE MILE RADIUS OF
 COLUMBUS CIRCLE IN THE BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.

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Senate Bill S4349

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Sponsored By

Pete Harckham