BILL NUMBER:S4681

TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the tax law, in relation to extending the
authorization of any city having a population of one million or more
to provide a biotechnology credit against the general corporation tax,
unincorporated business tax, and banking corporation tax of such city

PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

The bill extends amends paragraph 5 of subdivision d of section 1201-a
of the tax law to allow the City of New York to extends its existing
Biotechnology Credit for another three years from January 1, 2016
through December 31, 2018.

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

The bill extends amends paragraph 5 of subdivision d of section 1201-a
of the tax law to allow the City of New York to extends its existing
Biotechnology Credit for another three years from January 1, 2016
through December 31, 2018.

JUSTIFICATION:

With 9 world-class research institutions, 26 medical centers, 175
              

hospitals, and an unparalleled talent pool, New York City has a
natural advantage in the bioscience industry. Yet it lags behind other
cities, such as Boston and San Diego, in the commercialization of new
technologies. The credit targets the first state of commercialization,
where the discoveries of basic science are investigated for their
commercial properties. The credit is part of a policy to create an
industry with sufficient size and density such that it becomes a good
place to make a career in biotech and to locate the kind of ancillary
services that the industry needs. This credit works in conjunction
with the recent development of laboratory space at the East River
Science Park, and BioBAT at the Brooklyn Army Terminal. These spaces,
along with other facilities, provides approximately 2 million square
feet of laboratory space in the City.  The credit is complementary to
New York State's Qualified Emerging Technology Companies Credit. For
tax year 2010 the city received 23 applications for $2,050,565 in
biotechnology credits.

A taxpayer is entitled to a credit if the company: 1) is a qualified
emerging technology company engaging in biotechnologies, 2) has no
more than one hundred full-time employees, of which at least
seventy-five percent are employed in the city, 3) has a ratio of
research and development funds to net sales of at least six percent,
4) has gross revenues not exceeding twenty million dollars, including
affiliates, and 5) has annual sales not exceeding ten million dollars.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

new bill

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:


none, this bill will extend the already existing Biotechnology Credit
for another three years

EFFECTIVE DATE:

immediately