N.Y.
Tax Law Section 24-D
Empire state independent film production credit
(a)
(1) Allowance of credit. A taxpayer which is a qualified independent film production company, or which is a sole proprietor of or a member of a partnership which is a qualified independent film production company, and which is subject to tax under articles nine-A or twenty-two of this chapter, shall be allowed a credit against such tax, pursuant to the provisions referenced in subdivision (c) of this section, to be computed as hereinafter provided.(2)
(i) The amount of the credit shall be the product (or pro rata share of the product, in the case of a member of a partnership) of thirty percent and the qualified production costs paid or incurred in the production of a qualified film, provided that the qualified production costs (excluding post production costs) paid or incurred which are attributable to the use of tangible property or the performance of services at a qualified film production facility in the production of such qualified film equal or exceed seventy-five percent of the production costs (excluding post production costs) paid or incurred which are attributable to the use of tangible property or the performance of services at any film production facility within and without the state in the production of such qualified film. However, if the qualified production costs (excluding post production costs) which are attributable to the use of tangible property or the performance of services at a qualified film production facility in the production of such qualified film is less than three million dollars, then the portion of the qualified production costs attributable to the use of tangible property or the performance of services in the production of such qualified film outside of a qualified film production facility shall be allowed only if the shooting days spent in New York outside of a film production facility in the production of such qualified film equal or exceed seventy-five percent of the total shooting days spent within and without the state outside of a film production facility in the production of such qualified film. The credit shall be allowed for the taxable year in which the production of such qualified film is completed. A taxpayer shall not be eligible for a tax credit established by this section for the production of more than two qualified films per calendar year.(ii)
In addition to the amount of credit established in subparagraph (i) of this paragraph, a taxpayer shall be allowed a credit equal to (A) 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 paragraph one of subdivision (b) of this section, paid to individuals directly employed by a qualified independent film production company for services performed by those individuals in one of the counties specified in this subparagraph in connection with a qualified independent film with a minimum budget of five hundred thousand dollars, and (B) 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 specified in this subparagraph in connection with a qualified film with a minimum budget of five hundred thousand dollars where the majority of principal photography shooting days in the production of such film were shot in any of the counties 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: 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, Sullivan, Tioga, Tompkins, Ulster, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wyoming, or Yates and (C) qualified production costs that are attributable to scoring shall be eligible for an additional ten percent credit on such scoring costs when incurred within the state and when such scoring costs include payment to a minimum of five musicians.(3)
No qualified production costs used by a taxpayer either as the basis for the allowance of the credit provided for under this section or used in the calculation of the credit provided for under this section shall be used by such taxpayer to claim any other credit allowed pursuant to this chapter.(4)
Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this subdivision, a qualified independent film production company that has applied for credit under the provisions of this section, agrees as a condition for the granting of the credit:(i)
to include in each qualified film distributed by DVD, or other media for the secondary market, a New York promotional video approved by the governor’s office of motion picture and television development or to include in the end credits of each qualified film “Filmed With the Support of the New York State Governor’s Office of Motion Picture and Television Development” and a logo provided by the governor’s office of motion picture and television development, and(ii)
to certify that it will purchase taxable tangible property and services, defined as qualified production costs pursuant to paragraph one of subdivision (b) of this section, only from companies registered to collect and remit state and local sales and use taxes pursuant to articles twenty-eight and twenty-nine of this chapter.(b)
Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:(1)
“Qualified production costs” means production costs only to the extent such costs, excluding labor costs, do not exceed sixty million dollars and are attributable to the use of tangible property or the performance of services within the state directly and predominantly in the production (including pre-production and post production) of a qualified film. In the case of an eligible relocated television series, the term “qualified production costs” shall include, in the first season that the eligible relocated television series is produced in New York after relocation, qualified relocation costs. Provided, however, that the aggregate total eligible qualified production costs for producers, writers, directors, performers (other than background actors with no scripted lines), and composers shall not exceed forty percent of the aggregate sum total of all other qualified production costs.(2)
“Production costs” means any costs for tangible property used and services performed directly and predominantly in the production (including pre-production and post production) of a qualified film. “Production costs” shall not include costs for a story, script or scenario to be used for a qualified film. “Production costs” generally include writers, directors, composers and performers, technical and crew production costs, such as expenditures for film production facilities, or any part thereof, props, makeup, wardrobe, film processing, camera, sound recording, scoring, set construction, lighting, shooting, editing and meals.(3)
“Qualified film” means a scripted narrative feature-length film, television film, relocated television series or television series, regardless of the medium by means of which the film or series is created or conveyed. For the purposes of the credit provided by this section only, a “qualified film” whose majority of principal photography shooting days in the production of the qualified film are shot in Westchester, Rockland, Nassau, or Suffolk county or any of the five New York City boroughs shall have a minimum budget of one million dollars. A “qualified film”, whose majority of principal photography shooting days in the production of the qualified film are shot in any other county of the state than those listed in the preceding sentence shall have a minimum budget of two hundred fifty thousand dollars. “Qualified film” shall not include:(i)
a television pilot, documentary film, news or current affairs program, interview or talk program, “how-to” (i.e., instructional) film or program, film or program consisting primarily of stock footage, sporting event or sporting program, game show, award ceremony, film or program intended primarily for industrial, corporate or institutional end-users, fundraising film or program, daytime drama (i.e., daytime “soap opera”), commercials, music videos or “reality” program;(ii)
a production for which records are required under section 2257 of title 18, United States code, to be maintained with respect to any performer in such production (reporting of books, films, etc. with respect to sexually explicit conduct); or(iii)
a television series commonly known as variety entertainment, variety sketch and variety talk, i.e., a program with components of improvisational or scripted content (monologues, sketches, interviews), either exclusively or in combination with other entertainment elements such as musical performances, dancing, cooking, crafts, pranks, stunts, and games and which may be further defined in regulations of the commissioner of economic development.(4)
“Film production facility” shall mean a building and/or complex of buildings and their improvements and associated back-lot facilities in which films are or are intended to be regularly produced and which contain at least one sound stage, provided, however, that an armory owned by the state or city of New York located in the city of New York shall not be considered to be a “film production facility” unless such facility is used by a qualified independent film production company.(5)
“Qualified film production facility” shall mean a film production facility in the state, which contains at least one sound stage having a minimum of seven thousand square feet of contiguous production space.(6)
“Qualified independent film production company” is a corporation, partnership, limited partnership, or other entity or individual, that or who (i) is principally engaged in the production of a qualified film, (ii) is not publicly traded, and(iii)
is not majority owned, fifty-one percent or more, by a company publicly traded on a United States stock exchange.(7)
“Relocated television series” shall mean the first two years of a regularly occurring production intended to run in its initial broadcast, regardless of the medium or mode of its distribution, in a series of narrative and/or thematically related episodes, each of which has a running time of at least thirty minutes in length (inclusive of commercial advertisement and interstitial programming, if any), which had filmed a minimum of six episodes of the television series outside the state immediately prior to relocating to the state, where the television series had a total minimum budget of at least one million dollars per episode. For the purposes of this definition only, a television series produced by and for media services providers described as streaming services and/or digital platforms (and excluding network/cable) shall mean a regularly occurring production intended to run in its initial release in a series of narrative and/or thematically related episodes, the aggregate length of which is at least seventy-five minutes, although the episodes themselves may vary in duration from the thirty minutes specified for network/cable production.(8)
“Qualified relocation costs” means the costs incurred, excluding wages, salaries and other compensation, in the first season that a relocated television series relocates to New York, including such costs incurred to transport sets, props and wardrobe to New York and other costs as determined by the department of economic development to the extent such costs do not exceed six million dollars.(9)
If the total amount of allocated credits applied for in any particular year is less than the aggregate amount of tax credits allowed for such year under this section, any unused portion may be carried over and added to the aggregate amount of credits allowed in the next succeeding taxable year or years.(c)
Cross-references. For application of the credit provided for in this section, see the following provisions of this chapter:(1)
article 9-A: section 210-B: subdivision 20-a.(2)
article 22: section 606: subsection (gg-1).(d)
Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter, employees and officers of the governor’s office of motion picture and television development and the department shall be allowed and are directed to share and exchange information regarding the credits applied for, allowed, or claimed pursuant to this section and taxpayers who are applying for credits or who are claiming credits, including information contained in or derived from credit claim forms submitted to the department and applications for credit submitted to the governor’s office of motion picture and television development.(e)
Allocation of credit. The aggregate amount of tax credits allowed under this section, subdivision twenty-a of section two hundred ten and subsection (gg-1) of § 606 (Credits against tax)section six hundred six of this chapter in any calendar year shall be (1) twenty million dollars for qualified films with a budget of less than ten million dollars of qualified production costs; and(2)
eighty million dollars for qualified films with a budget of ten million dollars or more of qualified production costs. There shall be at least two application periods each year; 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 of an application for allocation of the independent film production credit with such office within each application period. If the commissioner of economic development determines that the aggregate amount of tax credits available for an application period under paragraph one of this subdivision have been previously allocated, and determines that the pending applications from eligible applicants for the other application period in such calendar year is insufficient to utilize the balance of unallocated tax credits for such period, then such commissioner may allocate to productions eligible under such paragraph any credits that remain unallocated for such period pursuant to paragraph two of this subdivision. Provided, however, the total amount of allocated credits applied in any calendar year shall not exceed the aggregate amount of tax credits allowed for such year under this section.(f)
(1) The commissioner of economic development shall reduce by one-half of one percent the amount of credit allowed to a taxpayer and this reduced amount shall be reported on a certificate of tax credit issued pursuant to this section and the regulations promulgated by the commissioner of economic development to implement this credit program.(2)
By January thirty-first of each year, the commissioner of economic development shall report to the comptroller the total amount of such reductions of tax credit during the immediately preceding calendar year. On or before March thirty-first of each year, the comptroller shall transfer without appropriations from the general fund to the empire state entertainment diversity job training development fund established under State Finance Law § 97-FF (Empire state entertainment diversity job training development fund)section ninety-seven-ff of the state finance law an amount equal to the total amount of such reductions reported by the commissioner of economic development for the immediately preceding calendar year.(g)
Credit recapture. If a certificate of tax credit issued by the department of economic development pursuant to this section is revoked by such department because the taxpayer does not meet the eligibility requirements of this section, the amount of credit described in this section and claimed by the taxpayer prior to that revocation shall be added back to tax in the taxable year in which any such revocation becomes final.
Source:
Section 24-D — Empire state independent film production credit, https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/TAX/24-D (updated May 16, 2025; accessed May 24, 2025).
