N.Y. COM Law § 352

§ 352. Definitions. For the purposes of this article:\n 1. "Agriculture" means both agricultural production (establishments\nperforming the complete farm or ranch operation, such as farm\nowner-operators, tenant farm operators, and sharecroppers) and\nagricultural support (establishments that perform one or more activities\nassociated with farm operation, such as soil preparation, planting,\nharvesting, and management, on a contract or fee basis).\n 2. "Back office operations" means a business function that may include\none or more of the following activities: customer service, information\ntechnology and data processing, human resources, accounting and related\nadministrative functions.\n 3. "Benefit-cost ratio" means the following calculation: the numerator\nis the sum of (i) the value of all remuneration projected to be paid for\nall net new jobs during the period of participation in the program, and\n(ii) the value of capital investments to be made by the business\nenterprise during the period of participation in the program, and the\ndenominator is the amount of total tax benefits under this article that\nwill be used and refunded.\n 4. "Certificate of eligibility" means the document issued by the\ndepartment to an applicant that has completed an application to be\nadmitted into the excelsior jobs program and has been accepted into the\nprogram by the department. Possession of a certificate of eligibility\ndoes not by itself guarantee the eligibility to claim the tax credit.\n 5. "Certificate of tax credit" means the document issued to a\nparticipant by the department, after the department has verified that\nthe participant has met all applicable eligibility criteria in this\narticle. The certificate shall be issued annually if such criteria are\nsatisfied and shall specify the exact amount of each of the tax credit\ncomponents under this article that a participant may claim, pursuant to\nsection three hundred fifty-five of this article, and shall specify the\ntaxable year in which such credit may be claimed.\n 6. "Distribution center" means a large scale facility involving\nprocessing, repackaging and/or movement of finished or semi-finished\ngoods to retail locations across a multi-state area.\n 7. "Entertainment company" means a corporation, partnership, limited\npartnership, or other entity principally engaged in the production or\npost production of (i) motion pictures, which shall include\nfeature-length films and television films, (ii) instructional videos,\n(iii) televised commercial advertisements, (iv) animated films or\ncartoons, (v) music videos, (vi) television programs, which shall\ninclude, but not be limited to, television series, television pilots,\nand single television episodes, or (vii) programs primarily intended for\nradio broadcast. "Entertainment company" shall not include an entity (i)\nprincipally engaged in the live performance of events, including, but\nnot limited to, theatrical productions, concerts, circuses, and sporting\nevents, (ii) principally engaged in the production of content intended\nprimarily for industrial, corporate or institutional end-users, (iii)\nprincipally engaged in the production of fundraising films or programs,\nor (iv) engaged in the production of content for which records are\nrequired under section 2257 of title 18, United States code, to be\nmaintained with respect to any performer in such production.\n 8. "Financial services data centers or financial services customer\nback office operations" means operations that manage the data or\naccounts of existing customers or provide product or service information\nand support to customers of financial services companies, including\nbanks, other lenders, securities and commodities brokers and dealers,\ninvestment banks, portfolio managers, trust offices, and insurance\ncompanies.\n 9. "Investment zone" shall mean an area within the state that had been\ndesignated under paragraph (i) of subdivision (a) and subdivision (d) of\nsection nine hundred fifty-eight of the general municipal law that was\nwholly contained within up to four distinct and separate contiguous\nareas as of the date immediately preceding the date the designation of\nsuch area expired pursuant to section nine hundred sixty-nine of the\ngeneral municipal law.\n 10. "Manufacturing" means the process of working raw materials into\nproducts suitable for use or which gives new shapes, new quality or new\ncombinations to matter which has already gone through some artificial\nprocess by the use of machinery, tools, appliances, or other similar\nequipment. "Manufacturing" does not include an operation that involves\nonly the assembly of components, provided, however, the assembly of\nmotor vehicles or other high value-added products shall be considered\nmanufacturing.\n 11. "Music production" means the process of creating sound recordings\nof at least eight minutes, recorded in professional sound studios,\nintended for commercial release. "Music production" does not include\nrecording of live concerts, or recordings that are primarily spoken word\nor wildlife or nature sounds, or produced for instructional use or\nadvertising or promotional purposes.\n 12. "Net new jobs" means:\n (a) jobs created in this state that (i) are new to the state,\n (ii) have not been transferred from employment with another business\nlocated in this state including from a related person in this state,\n (iii) are either full-time wage-paying jobs or equivalent to a\nfull-time wage-paying job requiring at least thirty-five hours per week,\nand\n (iv) are filled for more than six months; or\n (b) jobs obtained by an entertainment company in this state (i) as a\nresult of the termination of a licensing agreement with another\nentertainment company, (ii) that the commissioner determines to be at\nrisk of leaving the state as a direct result of the termination, (iii)\nthat are either full-time wage-paying jobs or equivalent to a full-time\nwage-paying job requiring at least thirty-five hours per week, and (iv)\nthat are filled for more than six months.\n 13. "Participant" means a business entity that:\n (a) has completed an application prescribed by the department to be\nadmitted into the program;\n (b) has been issued a certificate of eligibility by the department;\n (c) has demonstrated that it meets the eligibility criteria in section\nthree hundred fifty-three and subdivision two of section three hundred\nfifty-four of this article; and\n (d) has been certified as a participant by the commissioner.\n 14. "Preliminary schedule of benefits" means the maximum aggregate\namount of each component of the tax credit that a participant in the\nexcelsior jobs program is eligible to receive pursuant to this article.\nThe schedule shall indicate the annual amount of each component of the\ncredit a participant may claim in each of its ten years of eligibility.\nThe preliminary schedule of benefits shall be issued by the department\nwhen the department approves the application for admission into the\nprogram. The commissioner may amend that schedule, provided that the\ncommissioner complies with the credit caps in section three hundred\nfifty-nine of this article.\n 15. "Qualified investment" means an investment in tangible property\n(including a building or a structural component of a building) owned by\na business enterprise which:\n (a) is depreciable pursuant to section one hundred sixty-seven of the\ninternal revenue code;\n (b) has a useful life of four years or more;\n (c) is acquired by purchase as defined in section one hundred\nseventy-nine (d) of the internal revenue code;\n (d) has a situs in this state; and\n (e) is placed in service in the state on or after the date the\ncertificate of eligibility is issued to the business enterprise.\n 16. "Regionally significant project" means (a) a manufacturer creating\nat least fifty net new jobs in the state and making significant capital\ninvestment in the state; (b) a business creating at least twenty net new\njobs in agriculture in the state and making significant capital\ninvestment in the state, (c) a financial services firm, distribution\ncenter, or back office operation creating at least three hundred net new\njobs in the state and making significant capital investment in the\nstate, (d) a scientific research and development firm creating at least\ntwenty net new jobs in the state, and making significant capital\ninvestment in the state or (e) an entertainment company creating or\nobtaining at least two hundred net new jobs in the state and making\nsignificant capital investment in the state. Other businesses creating\nthree hundred or more net new jobs in the state and making significant\ncapital investment in the state may be considered eligible as a\nregionally significant project by the commissioner as well. The\ncommissioner shall promulgate regulations pursuant to section three\nhundred fifty-six of this article to determine what constitutes\nsignificant capital investment for each of the project categories\nindicated in this subdivision and what additional criteria a business\nmust meet to be eligible as a regionally significant project, including,\nbut not limited to, whether a business exports a substantial portion of\nits products or services outside of the state or outside of a\nmetropolitan statistical area or county within the state.\n 17. "Related person" means a "related person" pursuant to subparagraph\n(c) of paragraph three of subsection (b) of section four hundred\nsixty-five of the internal revenue code.\n 18. "Remuneration" means wages and benefits paid to an employee by a\nparticipant in the excelsior jobs program.\n 19. "Research and development expenditures" mean the expenses of the\nbusiness enterprise that are qualified research expenses under the\nfederal research and development credit under section forty-one of the\ninternal revenue code and are attributable to activities conducted in\nthe state. If the federal research and development credit has expired,\nthen the research and development expenditures shall be calculated as if\nthe federal research and development credit structure and definition in\neffect in federal tax year two thousand nine were still in effect.\n 20. "Scientific research and development" means conducting research\nand experimental development in the physical, engineering, and life\nsciences, including but not limited to agriculture, electronics,\nenvironmental, biology, botany, biotechnology, computers, chemistry,\nfood, fisheries, forests, geology, health, mathematics, medicine,\noceanography, pharmacy, physics, veterinary, and other allied subjects.\nFor the purposes of this article, scientific research and development\ndoes not include medical or veterinary laboratory testing facilities.\n 21. "Software development" means the creation of coded computer\ninstructions or production or post-production of video games, as defined\nin subdivision one-a of section six hundred eleven of the general\nbusiness law, other than those embedded and used exclusively in\nadvertising, promotional websites or microsites, and also includes new\nmedia as defined by the commissioner in regulations.\n