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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6919
January Session, 2023
LCO No. 4585
Referred to Committee on FINANCE, REVENUE AND
BONDING
Introduced by:
(FIN)
AN ACT ESTABLISHING A TAX CREDIT FOR CERTAIN PRE -
BROADWAY AND POST-BROADWAY THEATER PRODUCTIONS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective January 1, 2024, and applicable to income and 1
taxable years commencing on or after January 1, 2024) (a) As used in this 2
section: 3
(1) "Accredited theater production" means a for-profit live stage 4
presentation that is a pre-Broadway production or a post-Broadway 5
production and is performed at a qualified production facility; 6
(2) "Advertising and public relations expenditures" means costs 7
incurred within the state by an accredited theater production for goods 8
or services related to the national marketing of, public relations for and 9
creation and placement of print, electronic, television, billboard and 10
other forms of advertising to promote the accredited theater production; 11
(3) "Payroll" means all salaries, wages, fees and other compensation, 12
including related benefits for services performed within the state, not 13 Raised Bill No. 6919
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exceeding two hundred fifty thousand dollars per week; 14
(4) "Pre-Broadway production" means a live stage presentation that, 15
in its original or adaptive version, is performed at a qualified production 16
facility and is scheduled to be presented in New York City's Broadway 17
theater district not later than twelve months after the end date of such 18
performance or performances in the state; 19
(5) "Post-Broadway production" means a live stage presentation that, 20
in its original or adaptive version, is performed at a qualified production 21
facility and opens its national tour in the state following a performance 22
or performances of such presentation in New York City's Broadway 23
theater district; 24
(6) "Production and performance expenditures" means a 25
contemporaneous exchange of cash or cash equivalent for goods or 26
services related to the development, production or performance of or 27
operating expenditures incurred in the state for an accredited theater 28
production, including, but not limited to, (A) expenditures for design, 29
construction and operation, including sets, special and visual effects, 30
costumes, wardrobe, make-up and accessories, (B) costs associated with 31
sound, lighting, staging, facility expenses, rentals, per diems and 32
accommodations, and (C) payroll, advertising and public relations 33
expenditures and transportation expenditures; 34
(7) "Qualified production facility" means a facility located in the state 35
at which live stage presentations are, or are intended to be, exclusively 36
performed and that contains at least one stage, a seating capacity of one 37
thousand or more seats and dressing rooms, storage areas and other 38
ancillary amenities necessary for an accredited theater production; and 39
(8) (A) "Transportation expenditures" means expenditures for (i) the 40
packaging, crating and transporting, to and from the state, of sets, 41
costumes and other tangible property and equipment used or to be used 42
in an accredited theater production, and (ii) the transporting of cast and 43
crew members of an accredited theater production to and from the state. 44 Raised Bill No. 6919
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(B) "Transportation expenditures" does not include any costs for the 45
transporting of tangible property and equipment that are or will be used 46
only for filming and not in an accredited theater production or any 47
indirect costs, expenditures that are or will be reimbursed by a third 48
party or any amounts that are paid to an individual or entity as a result 49
of such individual's or entity's participation in profits from the 50
exploitation of an accredited theater production. 51
(b) (1) Any applicant that receives a final accredited theater 52
production certificate pursuant to the provisions of subsection (c) of this 53
section shall be allowed a credit against the tax imposed by chapter 207, 54
208, 212 or 229 of the general statutes, other than the liability imposed 55
by section 12-707 of the general statutes, of thirty per cent of the 56
production and performance expenditures of the accredited theater 57
production. 58
(2) If the taxpayer is an S corporation or an entity treated as a 59
partnership for federal income tax purposes, the credit may be claimed 60
by the taxpayer's shareholders or partners. If the taxpayer is a single 61
member limited liability company that is disregarded as an entity 62
separate from its owner, the credit may be claimed by such limited 63
liability company's owner, provided such owner is subject to the tax 64
imposed under chapter 208 or 229 of the general statutes. 65
(3) The credit allowed under this section (A) shall be claimed for the 66
income or taxable year in which the credit was earned and may be 67
carried forward for not more than three immediately succeeding income 68
or taxable years, and (B) may be sold, assigned or otherwise transferred, 69
in whole or in part. 70
(c) (1) Any individual, firm, partnership, trust, estate or other entity 71
that is a production company of an accredited theater production or a 72
sole proprietor, owner or member of a partnership that is a production 73
company of an accredited theater production may apply to the 74
Commissioner of Economic and Community Development, in such 75
form and manner as prescribed by the commissioner, for initial 76 Raised Bill No. 6919
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certification of an accredited theater production. The application shall 77
include information about the accredited theater production and the 78
production company presenting such production, the applicant's 79
relationship to such production or production company, the qualified 80
production facility at which such production will be performed and any 81
other information and data the commissioner deems necessary to 82
evaluate the application. If the commissioner approves the application, 83
the commissioner shall issue a notice of initial certification to the 84
production company and the Commissioner of Revenue Services. 85
(2) Upon completion of the accredited theater production 86
performance or performances, the applicant shall submit an application 87
to the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development for a 88
final certification of the accredited theater production. Such application 89
shall include a cost report and a certification by a certified public 90
accountant that such report, in such accountant's opinion, is accurate. 91
The commissioner shall make a determination, not later than thirty days 92
after a complete application has been submitted under this subdivision, 93
whether to approve a final accredited theater production certificate and 94
the amount of the credit to be allowed. 95
(3) The total amount of credits allowed pursuant to this section shall 96
not exceed ten million dollars in any one fiscal year. 97
(4) If the commissioner approves a final accredited theater 98
production certificate, the commissioner shall (A) issue such certificate 99
to the applicant and specify the amount of the credit allowed, and (B) 100
provide notice of such final certification and the amount of the credit 101
allowed to the Commissioner of Revenue Services. 102
(d) Any applicant that submits information to the Commissioner of 103
Economic and Community Development that such applicant knows to 104
be fraudulent or false shall, in addition to any other penalties provided 105
by law, be liable for a penalty equal to the amount of such applicant's 106
credit allowed under this section. 107
(e) No credits sold, assigned or otherwise transferred pursuant to this 108 Raised Bill No. 6919
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section shall be subject to a post-certification remedy and the 109
Commissioners of Economic and Community Development and 110
Revenue Services shall have no right, except in the case of possible 111
material misrepresentation or fraud, to conduct any further or 112
additional review, examination or audit of the production and 113
performance expenditures for which such credits were allowed. The 114
sole and exclusive remedy of the commissioners shall be to seek 115
collection of the amount of such credits from the applicant that 116
committed the fraud or misrepresentation. 117
(f) The Commissioners of Economic and Community Development 118
and Revenue Services may, for purposes of determining the correctness 119
of any credit claimed pursuant to this section, examine any books, 120
papers and records relating to the information or data provided with an 121
application for a final certification of the accredited theater production. 122
(g) Not later than March 1, 2025, and annually thereafter, the 123
Commissioner of Economic and Community Development shall submit 124
a report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general 125
statutes, to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly 126
having cognizance of matters relating to commerce and finance, revenue 127
and bonding. Such report shall include, but not be limited to, 128
information about any production companies that have applied in the 129
preceding calendar year for initial or final certification of an accredited 130
theater production, the status of such applications, descriptions of the 131
production company, the accredited theater production and the 132
qualified production facility at which the accredited theater production 133
is or was presented and the amount of any credits allowed pursuant to 134
this section in the preceding calendar year. 135
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 January 1, 2024, and
applicable to income and
taxable years commencing
on or after January 1, 2024
New section Raised Bill No. 6919
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Statement of Purpose:
To establish a credit for certain expenditures of accredited theater
productions at qualifying production facilities in the state.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]