Empire Zones

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Empire Zones Program Certificates Issued

Empire State Development (ESD) recently issued Empire Zone Retention Certificates (EZRCs) to over 6,600 businesses participating in the Program.

ESD also sent notices of decertification to 544 businesses that do not qualify for an EZRC along with information on the appeals process. Businesses receiving decertification notices must file a notice of appeal by Tuesday, July 21, 2009. The notice simply needs to indicate that business intends to appeal. Written submissions must be provided by Friday, August 28, 2009. Notices of Appeal and written submissions must be sent to:

Empire Zones Designation Board
c/o Commissioner of Economic Development
30 South Pearl Street, 6th Floor
Albany, NY 12245

The EZRCs and decertification notices were sent as a result of several important statutory changes made to the Empire Zones Program in April. One of the key changes in the Program is that businesses must obtain an Empire Zone Retention Certificate (EZRC) from Empire State Development (ESD) to receive any Empire Zone (EZ) benefits for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2008.

For information on how the Department of Taxation and Finance will process claims for EZ tax credits for a tax year that began on or after January 1, 2008, see TSB-M-09(5)C and TSB-M-09(4) at the Department of Taxation and Finance website http://www.tax.state.ny.us/pdf/memos/multitax/m09_5c_4i.pdf

Frequently Asked Questions About Empire Zone Retention Certificates

The Tax Department has recently posted answers to a number of frequently asked questions about Empire Zone Retention Certificates. To view the questions and answers, please go to the following link on the Tax Department's website http://www.tax.state.ny.us/sbc/ezrc.htm and scroll down to FAQS.

Summary

New York State’s Empire Zone program was created to stimulate economic growth through a variety of State tax incentives designed to attract new businesses to New York State and to enable existing businesses to expand and create more jobs.

Today, there are over 8,700 certified businesses employing more than 344,000  people in 85 Empire Zones statewide. A map of the 85 zone locations may be found by reviewing the Empire Zones “NYS Zone Map” section of Empire State Development’s website.


Eligibility & Certification

To participate in the Empire Zones Program, a business must first be located in an empire zone, or qualify as a regionally significant project, and become zone certified. To qualify for certification, a business must be able to demonstrate that it will create new jobs and/or make investments in the empire zone and be consistent with the local zone’s development plan, including a cost-benefit analysis.

Applications approved by local zone officials are then forwarded to the State for review and approval by the Departments of Economic Development (Empire State Development) and Labor. Contact your local zone coordinator to discuss whether your business qualifies for zone certification. Once a business is certified it is eligible to claim tax credits, subject to requirements and performance based formulas set in Tax Law.