New York State Film & TV Tax Incentives
Incentives: 30% tax credit on qualified production and post-production expenses.
Additional Benefits: Offers a 10% bonus for certain labor costs incurred in upstate New York and has increased the annual allocation for tax credits to $700 million as of 2024(Empire State Development)(KFTV).
Notable Productions: Law & Order, Succession.
New York State has expanded its film and TV tax incentive program starting April 1, 2024. The state budget has increased the program's funding from $420 million to $700 million per year, with several enhancements to make the credits more attractive for productions.
Key updates include:
Increased Base Credit: The base tax credit has returned to 30% of qualifying expenses, up from the reduced 25% in 2020.
Above-the-Line Costs: For the first time, above-the-line costs such as salaries for writers, directors, actors, and producers are now eligible for the credit, with a cap of $500,000 per individual and 40% of a production's qualified costs.
Upstate Incentives: Productions that shoot at least 50% of their principal photography upstate can receive a 10% additional credit on labor costs.
Faster Credit Payout: Previously, productions had to claim the credit in the year after their allocation year, but now they can claim it within the same year of allocation, speeding up the process.
These changes are designed to keep New York competitive with other states and attract more productions, particularly to upstate areas and for long-running series.