§ 42-a. Farm employer overtime credit. (a) Notwithstanding subdivision
(f) of section forty-two of this article, a taxpayer that is a farm
employer or an owner of a farm employer shall be eligible for a credit
against the tax imposed under article nine-A or twenty-two of this
chapter, pursuant to the provisions referenced in subdivision (i) of
this section.

(b) A farm employer is a corporation (including a New York S
corporation), a sole proprietorship, a limited liability company or a
partnership that is an eligible farmer.

(c) For purposes of this section, the term "eligible farmer" means a
taxpayer whose federal gross income from farming as defined in
subsection (n) of section six hundred six of this chapter for the
taxable year is at least two-thirds of excess federal gross income.
Excess federal gross income means the amount of federal gross income
from all sources for the taxable year in excess of thirty thousand
dollars. For purposes of this section, payments from the state's
farmland protection program, administered by the department of
agriculture and markets, shall be included as federal gross income from
farming for otherwise eligible farmers.

(d) An eligible farm employee is an individual who meets the
definition of a "farm laborer" under section two of the labor law who is
employed by a farm employer in New York state, but excluding general
executive officers of the farm employer.

(e) Eligible overtime is the aggregate number of hours of work
performed during the taxable year by an eligible farm employee that in
any calendar week exceeds the overtime work threshold set by the
commissioner of labor pursuant to the recommendation of the farm
laborers wage board, provided that work performed in such calendar week
in excess of sixty hours shall not be included.

(f) Special rules. If more than fifty percent of such eligible
farmer's federal gross income from farming is from the sale of wine from
a licensed farm winery as provided for in article six of the alcoholic
beverage control law, or from the sale of cider from a licensed farm
cidery as provided for in section fifty-eight-c of the alcoholic
beverage control law, then an eligible farm employee of such eligible
farmer shall be included for purposes of calculating the amount of
credit allowed under this section only if such eligible farm employee is
employed by such eligible farmer on qualified agricultural property as
defined in paragraph four of subsection (n) of section six hundred six
of this chapter.

(g) The amount of the credit allowed under this section shall be equal
to the aggregate amount of such credit allowed per eligible farm
employee, as follows. The amount of the credit allowed per eligible farm
employee shall be equal to one hundred eighteen percent of the product
of (1) the eligible overtime worked during the taxable year by the
eligible farm employee and (2) the overtime rate paid by the farm
employer to the eligible farm employee less such employee's regular rate
of pay.

(h)(1) Taxpayers shall have the option to request an advance payment
of the portion of the amount of tax credit they are allowed under this
section for the amount of eligible overtime that the farm employer paid
from January first through July thirty-first. To be eligible for the
advance payment, the farm employer must submit by September thirtieth a
properly completed application to the department of agriculture and
markets, in a form prescribed by the commissioner of agriculture and
markets, that demonstrates how much the farm employer paid in eligible
overtime during that period. After reviewing a farm employer's completed
application for the advance payment of a portion of the amount of tax
credit allowed under this section, the department of agriculture and
markets may issue to that farm employer a certificate of tax credit that
specifies the exact amount of the tax credit under this article that a
taxpayer may claim as an advance payment pursuant to this subdivision.

(2) A taxpayer must submit a request to the department in the manner
prescribed by the commissioner after it has been issued a certificate of
tax credit by the department of agriculture and markets pursuant to
paragraph one of this subdivision (or such certificate has been issued
to a partnership, limited liability company or subchapter S corporation
in which it is a partner, member or shareholder, respectively, that is a
farm employer), but such request must be submitted no later than
November first of the taxable year for which the credit is being
claimed. For those taxpayers who have requested an advance payment and
for whom the commissioner has determined to be eligible for this credit,
the commissioner shall advance a payment of the portion of the amount of
tax credit allowed to the taxpayer. The taxpayer will claim on the
taxpayers' return for the taxable year the portion of the amount of tax
credit allowed for eligible overtime paid by the farm employer from
August first through December thirty-first. The taxpayer must properly
reconcile the advance payment of tax credit allowed under this
subdivision on the taxpayer's return.

(3) If a taxpayer that has received an advance payment is not an
eligible farmer for the taxable year for which it received an advance
payment, the taxpayer shall be required to add back as tax the amount of
advance payment the taxpayer received during the taxable year.

(4) Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter, employees of the
department of agriculture and markets and the department shall be
allowed to share and exchange:

(i) information derived from tax returns or reports that is relevant
to a taxpayer's eligibility for the credit allowed by this section;

(ii) information regarding the credit applied for, allowed or claimed
pursuant to this section and regarding taxpayers that are applying for
the credit or that are claiming the credit; and

(iii) information collected by the department of agriculture and
markets and exchanged between the department of agriculture and markets
and the department pursuant to this section shall not be subject to
disclosure or inspection under the state's freedom of information law.

(i) Cross references: For application of the credit provided in this
section, see the following provisions of this chapter:

(1) Article 9-A: Section 210-B, subdivision 58.

(2) Article 22: Section 606, subsection (nnn).