§ 422. Definitions. For the purposes of this article:

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1. "Agriculture" means both agricultural production (establishments performing the complete farm or ranch operation, such as farm owner-operators, tenant farm operators, and sharecroppers) and agricultural support (establishments that perform one or more activities associated with farm operation, such as soil preparation, planting, harvesting, and management, on a contract or fee basis).

2. "Back office operations" means a business function that may include one or more of the following activities: customer service, information technology and data processing, human resources, accounting and related administrative functions.

3. "Certificate of eligibility" means the document issued by the department to an applicant that has completed an application to be admitted into the empire state jobs retention program and has been accepted into the program by the department. Possession of a certificate of eligibility does not by itself guarantee the eligibility to claim the tax credit.

4. "Certificate of tax credit" means the document issued to a participant by the department, after the department has verified that the participant has met all applicable eligibility criteria in this article. The certificate shall be issued annually if such criteria are satisfied and shall specify the exact amount of each tax credit under this article that a participant may claim, pursuant to section four hundred twenty-five of this article, and shall specify the taxable year in which such credit may be claimed.

5. "Distribution center" means a large scale facility involving processing, repackaging and/or movement of finished or semi-finished goods to retail locations across a multi-state area.

6. "Financial services data centers" or "financial services customer back office operations" means operations that manage the data or accounts of existing customers or provide product or service information and support to customers of financial services companies, including banks, other lenders, securities and commodities brokers and dealers, investment banks, portfolio managers, trust offices, and insurance companies.

7. "Impacted jobs" means jobs existing at a business enterprise at a location or locations within the county declared an emergency by the governor on the day immediately preceding the day on which the event leading to the emergency declaration by the governor occurred.

8. "Manufacturing" means the process of working raw materials into products suitable for use or which gives new shapes, new quality or new combinations to matter which has already gone through some artificial process by the use of machinery, tools, appliances, or other similar equipment. "Manufacturing" does not include an operation that involves only the assembly of components, provided, however, the assembly of motor vehicles or other high value-added products shall be considered manufacturing.

9. "Participant" means a business entity that:

(a) has completed an application prescribed by the department to be admitted into the program;

(b) has been issued a certificate of eligibility by the department;

(c) has demonstrated that it meets the eligibility criteria in section four hundred twenty-three and subdivision two of section four hundred twenty-four of this article; and

(d) has been certified as a participant by the commissioner.

10. "Preliminary schedule of benefits" means the maximum aggregate amount of the tax credit that a participant in the empire state jobs retention program is eligible to receive pursuant to this article. The schedule shall indicate the annual amount of the credit a participant may claim in each of its ten years of eligibility. The preliminary schedule of benefits shall be issued by the department when the department approves the application for admission into the program. The commissioner may amend that schedule, provided that the commissioner complies with the credit caps in section three hundred fifty-nine of this chapter.

11. "Related person" means a related person pursuant to subparagraph (c) of paragraph three of subsection (b) of section four hundred sixty-five of the internal revenue code.

12. "Scientific research and development" means conducting research and experimental development in the physical, engineering, and life sciences, including but not limited to agriculture, electronics, environmental, biology, botany, biotechnology, computers, chemistry, food, fisheries, forests, geology, health, mathematics, medicine, oceanography, pharmacy, physics, veterinary, and other allied subjects. For the purposes of this article, scientific research and development does not include medical or veterinary laboratory testing facilities.

13. "Software development" means the creation of coded computer instructions and includes new media as defined by the commissioner in regulations.