NY State Senate Bill 2025-S271

Senate Bill S271

2025-2026 Legislative Session

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

download bill text pdf

Current 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, 2025	referred to investigations and government operations

2025-S271 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Investigations And Government Operations
Law Section:: Tax Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §24, Tax L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2019-2020: S4349
2021-2022: S2967
2023-2024: S58

2025-S271 (ACTIVE) - Summary

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

2025-S271 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S271

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:

Adds areas of Rockland and Westchester which are outside the "film zone"
to the additional empire state film production credit.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill amends section 24 of the tax law as it relates to
including areas of Rockland or Westchester counties not located within
the film zone as part of the additional empire state film production
credit.

Section 2 of the bill amends subdivision (b) of section 24 at the tax

law as it relates to adding the definition of film zone.

Section 3 states 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:

2022-2024: S58 - Died in Investigations and Government Operations

2021-2022: S2967/A1120 - Died in Investigations and Government Oper-
ations/ Died in Ways and Means

2019-2020: S4349/A3883 - Died in Investigations and Government
Operations/Died in Ways and Means

2017-2018: A8463 - Died in Ways and Means

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2025-S271 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                    271
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                                (PREFILED)
 
                              January 8, 2025
                                ___________
 
 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 2 of part D of chapter  59  of  the  laws  of
 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   (5)  For  the period two thousand fifteen through two thousand thirty-
 four, in addition to the amount of credit established in  paragraph  two
 of  this  subdivision, a taxpayer shall be allowed a credit equal to (i)
 the product (or pro rata share of the product, in the case of  a  member
 of  a  partnership)  of  ten  percent  and  the wages, salaries or other
 compensation constituting qualified production costs as defined in para-
 graph two of subdivision  (b)  of  this  section,  paid  to  individuals
 directly  employed 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, and (ii) the product (or pro rata share of the
 product,  in  the  case of a member of a partnership) of ten percent and
 the qualified production  costs  (excluding  wages,  salaries  or  other
 compensation)  paid  or  incurred  in the production of a qualified film
 where the property constituting  such  qualified  production  costs  was
 used, and the services constituting such qualified production costs were
 performed in any of the counties OR AREAS specified in this paragraph in
 connection  with  a qualified film with a minimum budget of five hundred
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD00280-01-5
 S. 271                              2
 
 thousand dollars where the majority of  principal  photography  shooting
 days  in the production of such film were shot in any of the counties OR
 AREAS specified in this paragraph. Provided, however, that the aggregate
 total  eligible  qualified production costs constituting wages, salaries
 or other compensation, for writers, directors, composers, producers, and
 performers shall not exceed forty percent of the aggregate sum total  of
 all  other  qualified production costs.  For purposes of the credit, the
 services must be performed and the property must be used in one or  more
 of the following counties OR AREAS:  Albany, Allegany, Broome, Cattarau-
 gus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Chemung, Chenango, Clinton, Columbia, Cortland,
 Delaware,  Dutchess,  Erie,  Essex,  Franklin,  Fulton, Genesee, Greene,
 Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Livingston, Madison, Monroe, Mont-
 gomery, 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, OR ANY AREA IN THE COUN-
 TIES OF ROCKLAND OR WESTCHESTER WHICH IS NOT LOCATED IN THE FILM ZONE AS
 DEFINED IN PARAGRAPH ELEVEN OF SUBDIVISION (B) OF THIS SECTION.
   § 2. Subdivision (b) of section 24 of the tax law is amended by adding
 a new paragraph 11 to read as follows:
   (11)  "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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