NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7926
SPONSOR: Carroll P 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)
aremore 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.1253 of 2023-24,
A.1120 of 2021-22,
A.3883 of 2019-20,
A.8463 of 2017-18.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7926
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
April 15, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. P. CARROLL -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Ways and Means
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:
1 Section 1. Paragraph 5 of subdivision (a) of section 24 of the tax
2 law, as amended by section 2 of part D of chapter 59 of the laws of
3 2023, is amended to read as follows:
4 (5) For the period two thousand fifteen through two thousand thirty-
5 four, in addition to the amount of credit established in paragraph two
6 of this subdivision, a taxpayer shall be allowed a credit equal to (i)
7 the product (or pro rata share of the product, in the case of a member
8 of a partnership) of ten percent and the wages, salaries or other
9 compensation constituting qualified production costs as defined in para-
10 graph two of subdivision (b) of this section, paid to individuals
11 directly employed by a qualified film production company or a qualified
12 independent film production company for services performed by those
13 individuals in one of the counties or areas specified in this paragraph
14 in connection with a qualified film with a minimum budget of five
15 hundred thousand dollars, and (ii) the product (or pro rata share of the
16 product, in the case of a member of a partnership) of ten percent and
17 the qualified production costs (excluding wages, salaries or other
18 compensation) paid or incurred in the production of a qualified film
19 where the property constituting such qualified production costs was
20 used, and the services constituting such qualified production costs were
21 performed in any of the counties or areas specified in this paragraph in
22 connection with a qualified film with a minimum budget of five hundred
23 thousand dollars where the majority of principal photography shooting
24 days in the production of such film were shot in any of the counties or
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00280-01-5
A. 7926 2
1 areas specified in this paragraph. Provided, however, that the aggregate
2 total eligible qualified production costs constituting wages, salaries
3 or other compensation, for writers, directors, composers, producers, and
4 performers shall not exceed forty percent of the aggregate sum total of
5 all other qualified production costs. For purposes of the credit, the
6 services must be performed and the property must be used in one or more
7 of the following counties or areas: Albany, Allegany, Broome, Cattarau-
8 gus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Chemung, Chenango, Clinton, Columbia, Cortland,
9 Delaware, Dutchess, Erie, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Genesee, Greene,
10 Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Livingston, Madison, Monroe, Mont-
11 gomery, Niagara, Oneida, Onondaga, Ontario, Orange, Orleans, Oswego,
12 Otsego, Putnam, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Schuyler,
13 Seneca, St. Lawrence, Steuben, Sullivan, Tioga, Tompkins, Ulster,
14 Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wyoming, [or] Yates, or any area in the coun-
15 ties of Rockland or Westchester which is not located in the film zone as
16 defined in paragraph eleven of subdivision (b) of this section.
17 § 2. Subdivision (b) of section 24 of the tax law is amended by adding
18 a new paragraph 11 to read as follows:
19 (11) "Film zone" shall mean an area within a twenty-five mile radius
20 of Columbus Circle in the borough of Manhattan.
21 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
