Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed new tax credits Tuesday to help restart theatrical productions in New York.
As part of the budget for the upcoming fiscal year, Cuomo proposed up to $25 million in tax credits to musical and theatrical productions in New York City. He also plans to extend the Empire State Musical and Theatrical Production Tax Credit Program, which provides a tax credit of 25% of the cost of production and transportation expenses to shows that tech productions in upstate New York.
Under Cuomo’s plan, the Empire State tax credit would be extended four more years, through 2025, and the credit amount would be doubled to up to $8 million annually.
Still, Cuomo said these credits — as well as $50 million in tax credits for restaurants and $50 million to support small business hiring in 2021 — may only be possible to enact if the federal government provides $15 billion in federal aid. That money is needed, Cuomo said, to make up the state’s budget deficit that has been accrued due to the pandemic.
If the state receives only $6 billion in federal funding, Cuomo unveiled an alternative budget plan that would enact a short-term wealth tax on taxable income above $5 million, as well as cuts to school funding, Medicaid and other state programs.
“We have a plan in place, a strength that we have not had before and I believe our future is bright, but Washington must act fairly if we are to emerge on the other side of this crisis,” Cuomo said in his speech.
The State Legislature will review Cuomo’s proposal and put forward its own proposal in the coming weeks. The state budget must be passed by April 1.
