N.Y. Tax Law § 24-A — Musical and theatrical production credit

* § 24-a. Musical and theatrical production credit. (a)(1) Allowance\nof credit. A taxpayer which is a qualified musical and theatrical\nproduction company, or which is a sole proprietor of or a member of a\npartnership which is a qualified musical and theatrical production\ncompany, and which is subject to tax under article nine-A or twenty-two\nof this chapter, shall be allowed a credit against such tax, pursuant to\nthe provisions referred to in subdivision (c) of this section, and to be\ncomputed as provided in this section.\n (2) The amount of the credit shall be the product (or pro rata share\nof the product, in the case of a member of a partnership) of twenty-five\npercent and the sum of the qualified production expenditures and the\ntransportation expenditures.\n (3) No qualified production expenditures or transportation\nexpenditures used by a taxpayer either as the basis for the allowance of\nthe credit provided for pursuant to this section or used in the\ncalculation of the credit provided pursuant to this section shall be\nused by such taxpayer to claim any other credit allowed pursuant to this\nchapter.\n (b) Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms shall\nhave the following meanings:\n (1) "Qualified musical and theatrical production" means a for-profit\nlive, dramatic stage presentation in a qualified production facility,\ncertified pursuant to rules and regulations promulgated by the\ndepartment of economic development, as a qualified touring production.\n (2) "Qualified touring production" means a live, dramatic stage\nproduction that, in its original or adaptive version, is performed in a\nqualified production facility, and has begun or will begin a tour,\nconsisting of eight or more shows in three or more localities.\n (3) "Qualified production expenditure" means any costs for tangible\nproperty used and services performed directly and predominantly in the\nproduction of a qualified musical and theatrical production within the\nstate including: (i) expenditures for design, construction and\noperation, including sets, special and visual effects, costumes,\nwardrobes, make-up, accessories and costs associated with sound,\nlighting, and staging, (ii) all salaries, wages, fees, and other\ncompensation including related benefits for services performed of which\nthe total allowable expense shall not exceed two hundred thousand\ndollars per week, and (iii) technical and crew production costs, such as\nexpenditures for qualified production facilities, or any part thereof,\nprops, make-up, wardrobe, costumes, equipment used for special and\nvisual effects, sound recording, set construction, and lighting.\n (4) "Qualified production facility" means a facility located in the\nstate but outside the city of New York (i) in which live theatrical\nproductions are or are intended to be primarily presented, (ii) that\ncontains at least one stage, a seating capacity of one thousand or more\nseats, and dressing rooms, storage areas, and other ancillary amenities\nnecessary for the qualified musical and theatrical production, (iii) for\nwhich receipts attributable to ticket sales constitute seventy-five\npercent or more of gross receipts of the facility, and (iv) which is not\na licensee, or affiliated with a licensee, of the New York state gaming\ncommission under the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law.\n (5) "Qualified musical and theatrical production company" is a\ncorporation, partnership, limited partnership, or other entity or\nindividual which or who is principally engaged in the production of a\nqualified musical or theatrical production and performs in a qualified\nproduction facility.\n (6) (i) "Transportation expenditures" means transportation\nexpenditures incurred and paid directly and predominantly in the\nproduction of a qualified musical and theatrical production. Such\nexpenditures shall include the packaging, crating, and transportation\nwithin the state for use in a qualified theater production of sets,\ncostumes, or other tangible property constructed or manufactured in and\nout of state, and the transportation of the cast and crew within the\nstate. Such term shall include the packaging, crating, and transporting\nwithin the state of property and equipment used for special and visual\neffects, sound, lighting and staging, costumes, wardrobes, make-up and\nrelated accessories and materials, as well as any other performance or\nproduction-related property and equipment.\n (ii) Transportation expenditures shall not include any costs to\ntransport property and equipment to be used only for filming and not in\na qualified theater production, any indirect costs, and expenditures\nthat are later reimbursed by a third party, or any amounts that are paid\nto persons or entities as a result of their participation in profits\nfrom the exploitation of the production.\n (c) Cross-references. For application of the credit provided for in\nthis section, see the following provisions of this chapter:\n (1) article 9-A: section 210-B: subdivision 47.\n (2) article 22: section 606: subsection (u).\n (d) Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter, (i) employees and\nofficers of the department of economic development and the department\nshall be allowed and are directed to share and exchange information\nregarding the credits applied for, allowed, or claimed pursuant to this\nsection and taxpayers who are applying for credits or who are claiming\ncredits, including information contained in or derived from credit claim\nforms submitted to the department and applications for certification\nsubmitted to the department of economic development, and (ii) the\ncommissioner and the commissioner of the department of economic\ndevelopment may release the names and addresses of any taxpayer claiming\nthis credit and the amount of the credit earned by the taxpayer.\nProvided, however, if a taxpayer claims this credit because it is a\nmember of a limited liability company or a partner in a partnership,\nonly the amount of credit earned by the entity and not the amount of\ncredit claimed by the taxpayer may be released.\n (e) Maximum amount of credits. (1) The aggregate amount of tax\ncredits allowed under this section, subdivision forty-seven of section\ntwo hundred ten-B and subsection (u) of section six hundred six of this\nchapter in any calendar year shall be eight million dollars. Such\naggregate amount of credits shall be allocated by the department of\neconomic development among taxpayers in order of priority based upon the\ndate of filing an application for allocation of musical and theatrical\nproduction credit with such department. If the total amount of allocated\ncredits applied for in any particular year exceeds the aggregate amount\nof tax credits allowed for such year under this section, such excess\nshall be treated as having been applied for on the first day of the\nsubsequent year.\n (2) The commissioner of economic development, after consulting with\nthe commissioner, shall promulgate regulations by October thirty-first,\ntwo thousand fourteen to establish procedures for the allocation of tax\ncredits as required by subdivision (a) of this section. Such rules and\nregulations shall include provisions describing the application process,\nthe due dates for such applications, the standards which shall be used\nto evaluate the applications, the documentation that will be provided to\ntaxpayers to substantiate to the department the amount of tax credits\nallocated to such taxpayers, and such other provisions as deemed\nnecessary and appropriate. Notwithstanding any other provisions to the\ncontrary in the state administrative procedure act, such rules and\nregulations may be adopted on an emergency basis if necessary to meet\nsuch October thirty-first, two thousand fourteen deadline.\n (f) The department of economic development shall submit to the\ngovernor, the temporary president of the senate, and the speaker of the\nassembly, an annual report to be submitted on February first of each\nyear evaluating the effectiveness of the musical and theatrical\nproduction tax credit provided by this section in stimulating the growth\nof the musical and theatrical industry in the state. Such report shall\ninclude, but need not be limited to, in total and by qualified musical\nand theatrical production, the number of qualified musical and\ntheatrical productions which received a musical and theatrical\nproduction credit, the qualified production expenditures, the\ntransportation expenditures, the qualified production facilities, and\nthe credit amounts claimed by each qualified musical and theatrical\nproduction, as well as the impact on employment and the economy of the\nstate. Such report shall include (1) the credit-eligible man hours for\neach project and the total wages for such credit-eligible man hours for\neach project as well as the name of each taxpayer allocated a tax credit\nfor each project and the county of residence or incorporation of such\ntaxpayer or, if the taxpayer does not reside or is not incorporated in\nNew York, then the state of residence or incorporation; provided\nhowever, if the taxpayer claims a tax credit because the taxpayer is a\nmember of a limited liability company, a partner in a partnership or a\nshareholder in a subchapter S corporation, the name of each limited\nliability company, partnership or subchapter S corporation earning any\nof those tax credits must be included in the report instead of\ninformation about the taxpayer claiming the tax credit; and (2) the\namount of tax credit allocated to each taxpayer; provided, however, if\nthe taxpayer claims a tax credit because the taxpayer is a member of a\nlimited liability company, a partner in a partnership or a shareholder\nin a subchapter S corporation, the amount of tax credit earned by each\nentity must be included in the report instead of information about the\ntaxpayer claiming the tax credit, and information identifying the\nproject associated with each taxpayer for which a tax credit was claimed\nunder this section, including the name of the musical and theatrical\nproduction and county in which the production is performed must be\nincluded in such report. Such report shall be based on data available\nfrom the application filed with the department of economic development\nfor allocation of musical and theatrical production credits.\nNotwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the information\ncontained in the report shall be public information. The report may also\ninclude any recommendations of changes in the calculation or\nadministration of the credit, and any other recommendation of the\ncommissioner of the department of economic development regarding\ncontinuing modification, repeal of such act, and such other information\nregarding the act as the commissioner of the department of economic\ndevelopment may feel useful and appropriate.\n * NB Repealed January 1, 2030\n