* § 31. Empire state film post production credit. (a) Allowance of credit. (1) A taxpayer which is a qualified film production company, and which is subject to tax under article nine-A or twenty-two of this chapter, unless eligible for the credit under section twenty-four of this article with respect to the qualified film, shall be allowed a credit against such tax, pursuant to the provisions referenced in subdivision (c) of this section to be computed as provided in this subdivision.

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(2) 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 post production costs paid in the production of a qualified film at a qualified post production facility located within the metropolitan commuter transportation district as defined in § 1262 of the public authorities law or thirty-five percent and the qualified post production costs paid in the production of a qualified film at a qualified post production facility located elsewhere in the state.

(3) (i) A taxpayer shall not be eligible for the credit established by this section for qualified post production costs, excluding the costs for visual effects and animation, unless the qualified post production costs, excluding the costs for visual effects and animation, at a qualified post production facility meet or exceed seventy-five percent of the total post production costs, excluding the costs for visual effects and animation, paid or incurred in the post production of the qualified film at any post production facility. (ii) A taxpayer shall not be eligible for the credit established by this section for qualified post production costs which are costs for visual effects or animation unless the qualified post production costs for visual effects or animation at a qualified post production facility meet or exceed three million dollars or twenty percent of the total post production costs for visual effects or animation paid or incurred in the post production of a qualified film at any post production facility, whichever is less. (iii) A taxpayer may claim a credit for qualified post production costs excluding the costs for visual effects and animation, and for qualified post production costs of visual effects and animation, provided that the criteria in subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of this paragraph are both satisfied. The credit shall be allowed for the taxable year in which the production of such qualified film is completed.

(4) No qualified post 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.

(5) If the amount of the credit is at least one million dollars but less than five million dollars, the credit shall be claimed over a two year period beginning in the first taxable year in which the credit may be claimed and in the next succeeding taxable year, with one-half of the amount of credit allowed being claimed in each year. If the amount of the credit is at least five million dollars, the credit shall be claimed over a three year period beginning in the first taxable year in which the credit may be claimed and in the next two succeeding taxable years, with one-third of the amount of the credit allowed being claimed in each year.

(6) For the period two thousand fifteen through two thousand thirty-four, in addition to the amount of credit established in paragraph two of this subdivision, a taxpayer shall be allowed a credit equal to the product (or pro rata share of the product, in the case of a member of a partnership) of ten percent and the amount of wages or salaries paid to individuals directly employed (excluding those employed as writers, directors, composers, producers and performers, other than background actors with no scripted lines) for services performed by those individuals in one of the counties specified in this paragraph in connection with the post production work on a qualified film with a minimum budget of five hundred thousand dollars at a qualified post production facility in one of the counties listed in this paragraph. For purposes of this additional credit, the services must be performed 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.

(b) Definitions. As used in this section the following terms shall have the following meanings:

(1) "Qualified film production company" and "qualified film" shall have the same meaning as are ascribed to such terms by section twenty-four of this article.

(2) "Post production costs" means production of original content for a qualified film employing traditional, emerging and new workflow techniques used in post-production for picture, sound and music editorial, rerecording and mixing, visual effects, graphic design, original scoring, animation, and musical composition; but shall not include the editing of previously produced content for a qualified film.

(3) "Post production facility" means a building and/or complex of buildings and their improvements on which film are intended to be post produced.

(4) "Qualified post production facility" means a post production facility located in the state, engaged in finishing a qualified film.

(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the aggregate amount of tax credits available under this section shall not exceed the amounts allowed pursuant to paragraph four of subdivision (e) of section twenty-four of this article and shall be allocated in the same manner as provided for in paragraph one of subdivision (e) of section twenty-four of this article.

(d) 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 32.

(2) article 22: section 606: subsection (qq).

(e) With regard to certificates of tax credit issued on or after January first, two thousand twenty, the commissioner of economic development shall reduce by one-quarter 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. Such reductions in tax credit shall be deposited into the empire state entertainment diversity job training development fund as provided in subdivision (f) of section twenty-four of this article.

* NB There are 2 § 31's