STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2552 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 19, 2021 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. WOERNER, LUPARDO, BUTTENSCHON, SIMON, SAYEGH, SCHMITT, BLANKENBUSH, J. M. GIGLIO, SMULLEN, THIELE, GUNTHER, DARLING, JEAN-PIERRE, CRUZ, FERNANDEZ, ASHBY, HAWLEY, MONTESANO, NORRIS, WALC- ZYK, MORINELLO, B. MILLER, JONES -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. BARCLAY, COOK, HYNDMAN, NOLAN -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Ways and Means AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to providing insurance corpo- rations with a tax credit for investments made in rural business growth funds; and to amend the state finance law, in relation to establishing the New York agriculture and rural jobs fund The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The tax law is amended by adding a new section 45 to read 2 as follows: 3 § 45. New York agriculture and rural jobs credit. (a) Definitions. For 4 the purpose of this section the following terms shall have the following 5 meanings: 6 (1) "Affiliate" means a person that directly, or indirectly through 7 one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by, or is under 8 common control with another person. For the purposes of this subdivi- 9 sion, a person is "controlled by" another person if the controlling 10 person holds, directly or indirectly, the majority voting or ownership 11 interest in the controlled person or has control over the day-to-day 12 operations of the controlled person by contract or by law. 13 (2) "Closing date" means the date on which a rural business growth 14 fund has collected all of the amounts specified by subparagraphs (A) and 15 (B) of paragraph seven of subdivision (b) of this section. 16 (3) "Credit-eligible capital contribution" means an investment of cash 17 by a person in a rural business growth fund that equals the amount spec- 18 ified on a tax credit certificate issued by the department under subpar- 19 agraph (B) of paragraph six of subdivision (b) of this section. The EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD01231-01-1A. 2552 2 1 investment shall purchase an equity interest in the rural business 2 growth fund or purchase, at par value or premium, a debt instrument 3 issued by the rural growth fund that meets all of the following crite- 4 ria: 5 (A) The debt instrument has an original maturity date of at least five 6 years after the date of issuance. 7 (B) The debt instrument has a repayment schedule that is not faster 8 than a level principal amortization over five years. 9 (C) The debt instrument has no interest, distribution, or payment 10 features dependent on the rural business growth fund's profitability or 11 the success of the rural growth investments. 12 (4) "Eligible investment authority" means the amount stated on the 13 notice issued under subparagraph (A) of paragraph six of subdivision (b) 14 of this section certifying the rural business growth fund. At least 15 sixty-five percent of a rural business growth fund's eligible investment 16 authority shall be comprised of credit-eligible capital contributions. 17 (5) "Jobs created" means the number of persons employed by a rural 18 business concern having received a growth investment from a rural busi- 19 ness growth fund during the taxable year which shall be determined by 20 ascertaining the number of such individuals employed full-time by such 21 rural business concern on the thirty-first day of March, the thirtieth 22 day of June, the thirtieth day of September and the thirty-first day of 23 December during each taxable year following its initial growth invest- 24 ment, by adding together the number of such individuals ascertained on 25 each of such dates and dividing the sum so obtained by the number of 26 dates occurring within such taxable year in the amount that such number 27 exceeds the jobs retained number. An individual employed full-time means 28 an employee in a job consisting of at least thirty-five hours per week, 29 or two or more employees who are in jobs that together constitute the 30 equivalent of a job of at least thirty-five hours per week. 31 (6) "Jobs retained" means the number of persons employed by a rural 32 business concern having received a growth investment from a rural busi- 33 ness growth fund during the taxable year which shall be determined by 34 ascertaining the number of such individuals employed full-time by such 35 rural business concern on the thirty-first day of March, the thirtieth 36 day of June, the thirtieth day of September and the thirty-first day of 37 December during the year in which the rural business concern received 38 its initial growth investment from a rural business growth fund, by 39 adding together the number of such individuals ascertained on each of 40 such dates and dividing the sum so obtained by the number of dates 41 occurring within such taxable year. An individual employed full-time 42 means an employee in a job consisting of at least thirty-five hours per 43 week, or two or more employees who are in jobs that together constitute 44 the equivalent of a job of at least thirty-five hours per week. 45 (7) A business's "principal business operations" are in New York state 46 if New York state is its principal place of business and at least eighty 47 percent of the business's employees work in New York state, or the busi- 48 ness has agreed to use the proceeds of a rural growth investment to 49 relocate at least eighty percent of its employees to New York state 50 within twelve months of receiving the investment by a rural business 51 growth fund. 52 (8) "Rural area" shall have the same meaning as defined in subdivision 53 seven of section four hundred eighty-one of the executive law. 54 (9) "Rural business concern" means an operating company that, at the 55 time of the initial investment in the company by a rural business growth 56 fund employs no more than one hundred fifty full-time equivalent employ-A. 2552 3 1 ees or has earned not more than ten million dollars in net income for 2 the preceding taxable year, and meets either of the following criteria: 3 (A) The business's principal business operations are located in a 4 rural area in New York state and is an agricultural enterprise or is 5 related to the use of agricultural products or forest products, or is an 6 enterprise in one of the following industries: manufacturing, computer 7 hardware or software, tourism, agribusiness development to stimulate the 8 development and implementation of new and alternative production, proc- 9 essing, storage, distribution and marketing technology and improvements 10 for New York food, agriculture and forest products or if not engaged in 11 any of these industries, the department determines that the investment 12 will be beneficial to the qualified location and the economic growth of 13 New York state; or 14 (B) The business produces or provides any goods principally used by 15 farmers, ranchers, or producers and harvesters of aquatic products in 16 their business operations, or is involved in the processing and market- 17 ing of agricultural products, farm supply, and input suppliers, provided 18 that such business is located in a municipality, as defined in section 19 four hundred eighty-one of the executive law, in New York state with a 20 population of less than fifty thousand. For the purposes of this 21 section, "net income" means federal adjusted gross income as required to 22 be reported under the Internal Revenue Code less federal and state taxes 23 imposed on or measured by income. Any business which is classified as a 24 rural business concern at the time of the initial investment in said 25 business by a rural business growth fund shall remain classified as a 26 rural business concern and may receive follow-on investments from any 27 rural business growth fund, and such follow-on investments shall qualify 28 as a rural growth investment provided it otherwise meets the definition 29 of rural business concern with the exception of the employee limitation 30 and net income limitation in such definition. 31 (10) "Rural business growth fund" means an entity certified by the 32 department under this section. 33 (11) "Rural growth investment" means any capital or equity investment 34 in a rural business concern or any loan to a rural business concern with 35 a term of at least one year. 36 (12) "Tax credit certificate" means the document issued by the depart- 37 ment to a person who has made a credit-eligible capital contribution to 38 a rural business growth fund. 39 (13) "Taxable year" when used in reference to an insurance company 40 means the calendar year ending on the thirty-first day of December next 41 preceding the day the annual report is required to be returned under 42 subdivision (d) of this section. 43 (14) "Department", as used in this section, means the department of 44 economic development. 45 (b) Certification. (1) On and after August first, two thousand twen- 46 ty-two, an applicant that has developed a business plan to invest in 47 rural business concerns in this state and has successfully solicited 48 private investors to make capital contributions in support of the plan 49 may apply to the department for certification as a rural business growth 50 fund. The application shall include all of the following: 51 (A) The total eligible investment authority sought by the applicant 52 under the business plan; 53 (B) Documents and other evidence sufficient to prove that the appli- 54 cant meets all of the following criteria: (i) The applicant or an affil- 55 iate of the applicant is licensed as a rural business investment companyA. 2552 4 1 under 7 U.S.C. 2009cc, or as a small business investment company under 2 15 U.S.C. 681. 3 (ii) As of the date the application is submitted, the applicant has 4 invested more than one hundred million dollars in operating companies in 5 rural areas located inside or outside of New York state and at least 6 twenty-five million dollars in operating companies located in New York 7 state. In computing investments under this subdivision, the applicant 8 may include investments made by affiliates of the applicant. 9 (C) An estimate of the number of (i) jobs that will be created in the 10 rural areas of New York state as a result of the applicant's rural 11 growth investments, (ii) jobs that will be retained in the rural areas 12 of New York state as a result of the applicants rural growth invest- 13 ments, and (iii) the anticipated average wage per job. 14 (D) A revenue impact assessment for the applicant's proposed rural 15 growth investments prepared by a nationally recognized third-party inde- 16 pendent economic forecasting firm using a dynamic economic forecasting 17 model. The revenue impact assessment shall analyze the applicant's 18 business plan over the ten years following the date the application is 19 submitted to the department. 20 (E) A signed affidavit from each investor successfully solicited by 21 the applicant to make a credit eligible capital contribution in support 22 of the business plan. Each affidavit shall include information suffi- 23 cient for the department to identify the investor and shall state the 24 amount of the investor's credit-eligible capital contribution. 25 (F) A nonrefundable application fee of five thousand dollars. 26 (G) A strategy, as part of its business plan, to prioritize efforts to 27 invest in businesses that are environmentally sensitive and utilize 28 resources that promote a clean environment and energy conservation. 29 (2) The department shall review and make a determination with respect 30 to each application submitted under paragraph one of this subdivision 31 within thirty days of receipt. The department shall make determinations 32 on the applications in the order in which the applications are received 33 by the department. Applications received by the department on the same 34 day shall be deemed to have been received simultaneously. Except as 35 provided in paragraph four of subdivision (c) of this section, the 36 department shall not approve more than one hundred million dollars in 37 eligible investment authority or more than sixty-five million dollars in 38 credit-eligible capital contributions. 39 (3) The department shall deny an application submitted under this 40 section if any of the following are true: (A) The application is incom- 41 plete. 42 (B) The application fee is not paid in full. 43 (C) The applicant does not satisfy all the criteria described in 44 subparagraph (B) of paragraph one of this subdivision. 45 (D) The revenue impact assessment submitted under subparagraph (D) of 46 paragraph one of this subdivision does not demonstrate that the appli- 47 cant's business plan will result in a positive economic impact on this 48 state over a ten-year period that exceeds the credit eligible capital 49 contributions sought by the applicant. 50 (E) The credit-eligible capital contributions described in affidavits 51 submitted under subparagraph (E) of paragraph one of this subdivision do 52 not equal sixty-five percent of the total amount of eligible investment 53 authority sought under the applicant's business plan. 54 (F) The department has already approved the maximum amount of eligible 55 investment authority and credit-eligible capital contributions allowed 56 under paragraph two of this subdivision.A. 2552 5 1 (4) If the department denies an application under paragraph three of 2 this subdivision, the department shall send notice of its determination 3 of the applicant. The notice shall include the reasons that the applica- 4 tion was denied. If the application was denied for any reason other than 5 the reason specified in subparagraph (F) of paragraph three of this 6 subdivision, the applicant may provide additional information to the 7 department to complete, clarify, or cure defects in the application. 8 The additional information must be submitted within thirty days after 9 the date the notice of denial was sent by the department. If the person 10 or entity submits additional information within thirty days, the depart- 11 ment shall reconsider the application within thirty days after receiving 12 such additional information. If after submission of additional informa- 13 tion, the application is approved, then the submission date shall be the 14 date of the original submission of the application. If the person or 15 entity does not submit additional information within thirty days after 16 the notice of denial was sent, the applicant may submit a new applica- 17 tion with a new submission date at any time. 18 (5) If approving multiple simultaneously submitted applications would 19 result in exceeding the overall eligible investment limit prescribed by 20 paragraph two of this subdivision, the department shall proportionally 21 reduce the eligible investment authority and the credit-eligible capital 22 contributions for each approved application as necessary to avoid 23 exceeding the limit. 24 (6) If the department approves such application, the department shall: 25 (A) issue a written notice certifying that the applicant qualifies as a 26 rural business growth fund and specifying the amount of the applicant's 27 eligible investment authority and the number of jobs created and jobs 28 retained required of the rural business growth fund determined by multi- 29 plying the estimated number of jobs created and jobs retained set forth 30 in the rural business growth fund's application by a fraction, the 31 numerator of which is the investment authority awarded to the rural 32 business growth fund and the denominator of which is the investment 33 authority for which the rural business growth fund applied; (B) to each 34 investor whose affidavit was included in the application, issue a tax 35 credit certificate specifying the amount of the investor's credit-eligi- 36 ble capital contribution; and (C) to the commissioner, a copy of each 37 tax credit certificate issued under subparagraph (B) of this paragraph. 38 (7) A rural business growth fund shall complete all of the following 39 within sixty days of receiving the written notice issued under paragraph 40 six of this subdivision: 41 (A) Collect the credit-eligible capital contributions from each inves- 42 tor whose credit-eligible capital contributions are described in affida- 43 vits submitted pursuant to subparagraph (E) of paragraph one of this 44 subdivision. 45 (B) Collect one or more investments of cash, which shall purchase an 46 equity interest in the rural growth fund or a debt instrument issued by 47 the rural growth fund at par value or premium, with a maturity date of 48 at least five years from the closing date that, when added to the 49 contributions collected under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, equal 50 the fund's eligible investment authority. At least ten percent of the 51 fund's eligible investment authority shall be comprised of equity 52 investments contributed by affiliates of the rural business growth fund, 53 including employees, officers, and directors of such affiliates. 54 (C) Send to the department documentation sufficient to prove that the 55 amounts described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this paragraph haveA. 2552 6 1 been collected. If the rural business growth fund fails to fully comply 2 with this paragraph, the fund's certification shall lapse. 3 (8) Eligible investment authority and corresponding credit-eligible 4 capital contributions that lapse under paragraph seven of this subdivi- 5 sion do not count toward limits on total eligible investment authority 6 and credit-eligible capital contributions prescribed in paragraph two of 7 this subdivision. Once eligible investment authority has lapsed, the 8 department shall first award lapsed authority pro rata to each rural 9 business growth fund that was awarded less than the requested eligible 10 investment authority under paragraph five of this subdivision. Any 11 remaining eligible investment authority may be awarded by the department 12 to new applicants. 13 (9) Application fees submitted to the department pursuant to subpara- 14 graph (F) of paragraph one of this subdivision shall be credited to the 15 New York agriculture and rural jobs fund, created in section ninety- 16 nine-ff of the state finance law. 17 (c) Revocation of certification and penalties. (1) The department 18 shall revoke a tax credit certificate issued under subdivision (b) of 19 this section if any of the following occur with respect to a rural busi- 20 ness growth fund before the fund exits the program under paragraph five 21 of this subdivision. 22 (A) The rural business growth fund in which the credit-eligible capi- 23 tal contribution was made does not invest sixty percent of its eligible 24 investment authority in rural growth investments in this state within 25 two years of the closing date and one hundred percent of its eligible 26 investment authority in rural growth investments in this state within 27 three years of the closing date. 28 (B) After investing one hundred percent of its eligible investment 29 authority in rural growth investments in this state, the rural business 30 growth fund fails to maintain that investment until the seventh anniver- 31 sary of the closing date. For the purposes of this section, an invest- 32 ment is "maintained" even if the investment is sold or repaid so long as 33 the rural business growth fund reinvests an amount equal to the capital 34 returned or recovered by the fund from the original investment, exclu- 35 sive of any profits realized, in other rural growth investments in this 36 state within twelve months of the receipt of such capital. Amounts 37 received periodically by a rural business growth fund shall be treated 38 as continually invested in rural growth investments if the amounts are 39 reinvested in one or more rural growth investments by the end of the 40 following calendar year. A rural business growth fund is not required to 41 reinvest capital returned from rural growth investments in the six 42 months immediately preceding the seventh anniversary of the closing 43 date, and such rural growth investments shall be considered held contin- 44 uously by the rural growth fund through the seventh anniversary of the 45 closing date. 46 (C) The rural business growth fund invests more than the greater of 47 five million dollars or twenty percent of its eligible investment 48 authority in the same rural business concern, including amounts invested 49 in affiliates of the rural business concern but excluding amounts rein- 50 vested in the rural business growth fund with repaid or redeemed rural 51 business growth investments, provided such reinvestments shall not count 52 towards the requirement of subparagraph (A) of this paragraph. 53 (D) The rural business growth fund makes a rural growth investment in 54 a rural business concern that directly or indirectly through an affil- 55 iate owns, has the right to acquire an ownership interest, make a loan 56 to, or make an investment in the rural business growth fund, an affil-A. 2552 7 1 iate of the rural business growth fund, or an investor in the rural 2 business growth fund. This paragraph does not apply to investments in 3 publicly traded securities by a rural business concern or an owner or 4 affiliate of such concern. 5 (2) Before taking action under paragraph one of this subdivision, the 6 department shall notify the rural business growth fund of the reasons 7 for the pending action. If the rural business growth fund corrects the 8 violations, other than violations of subparagraph (D) of paragraph one 9 of this subdivision, outlined in the notice to the satisfaction of the 10 department within one hundred eighty days of the date of the notice was 11 sent, the department shall not revoke the tax credit certificates or 12 levy a fine. 13 (3) If the department revokes a tax credit certificate under paragraph 14 one of this subdivision, it shall notify the commissioner, who shall 15 make an assessment for the amount of the credit claimed by the certif- 16 icate holder before the certificate was revoked. The commissioner shall 17 make the assessment within one year after the certificate has been 18 revoked. 19 (4) If tax credit certificates are revoked under paragraph one of this 20 subdivision, the associated eligible investment authority and credit-el- 21 igible capital contributions do not count toward the limit on total 22 eligible investment authority and credit-eligible capital contributions 23 described by paragraph two of subdivision (b) of this section. The 24 department shall first award reverted authority pro rata to each rural 25 business growth fund that was awarded less than the requested eligible 26 investment authority under paragraph five of subdivision (b) of this 27 section. Any remaining eligible investment authority may be awarded by 28 the department to new applicants. 29 (5) (A) On or after the seventh anniversary of the closing date, a 30 rural business growth fund that has not committed any of the acts 31 described in paragraph one of this subdivision may apply to the depart- 32 ment to exit the program as a rural business growth fund and no longer 33 be subject to regulation under this section. The department shall 34 respond to the application within thirty days after receiving such 35 application. In evaluating such request the fact that no tax credit 36 certificates have been revoked with respect to the rural business growth 37 fund shall be sufficient evidence to prove that the fund is eligible to 38 exit the program. The department shall not unreasonably deny an applica- 39 tion submitted under this subdivision. 40 (B) The department shall send notice of its determination with respect 41 to an application submitted under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph to 42 the rural business growth fund. If the application is denied, the notice 43 shall include the reasons for the determination. 44 (C) The department shall not revoke a tax credit certificate due to 45 any actions of a rural business growth fund that occur after the date 46 the fund's application for exiting the program is approved under subpar- 47 agraph (A) of this paragraph. 48 (6) A rural business growth fund is subject to a penalty in the amount 49 provided by paragraph seven of this subdivision if: 50 (A) the rural business growth fund authorizes a distribution to the 51 rural business growth fund's equity or debt holders in an amount that, 52 when added to all previous distributions to the rural business growth 53 fund's equity and debt holders and any previous penalties under this 54 section, exceeds the rural business growth fund's investment authority; 55 andA. 2552 8 1 (B) the number of jobs created and jobs retained as reported in each 2 of the annual reports submitted under paragraph one of subdivision (d) 3 of this section is less than the number of jobs created and jobs 4 retained as set forth in the rural business growth fund's notice of 5 approval pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph six of subdivision 6 (b) of this section. 7 (7) The amount of the penalty pursuant to paragraph six of this subdi- 8 vision shall be equal to the amount of the tax credit certificate issued 9 under subparagraph (B) of paragraph six of subdivision (b) of this 10 section multiplied by a fraction: 11 (A) the numerator of which is the number of jobs created and jobs 12 retained set forth in the rural business growth fund's notice of 13 approval under subparagraph (A) of paragraph six of subdivision (b) of 14 this section less the sum of jobs created and jobs retained reported to 15 the department annually pursuant to paragraph one of subdivision (d) of 16 this section; and 17 (B) the denominator of which is the number of jobs created and jobs 18 retained set forth in the rural business growth fund's notice of 19 approval under subparagraph (A) of paragraph six of subdivision (b) of 20 this section. 21 (8) Before making a distribution to the rural business growth fund's 22 equity holders, the rural business growth fund shall deduct the amount 23 of the penalty as calculated pursuant to paragraph seven of this subdi- 24 vision from the amount otherwise authorized to be distributed to the 25 equity holders and pay the penalty to the department. 26 (9) A rural business growth fund shall, prior to making a rural growth 27 investment, request from the department a written determination as to 28 whether the business entity in which it proposes to invest qualifies as 29 a rural business concern. Such request shall be in a form prescribed by 30 the department. Rural business concern determination requests shall be 31 accepted, reviewed, and approved on a rolling basis. The department, 32 not later than the twentieth business day after the date of receipt of 33 such request, provided the request includes all of the required informa- 34 tion to perform such review, shall notify the rural business growth fund 35 of its determination. If the department fails to notify such fund of its 36 determination within such twenty business days, the business in which 37 the rural business growth fund proposes to invest shall be deemed to 38 qualify as a rural business concern. 39 (d) Reports. (1) A rural business growth fund shall submit a report to 40 the department on or before the fifth business day after each anniver- 41 sary of the closing date until the rural business growth fund has exited 42 the program in accordance with paragraph five of subdivision (c) of this 43 section. The report shall document the rural business growth fund's 44 growth investments and shall include, but shall not be limited to: 45 (A) A bank statement showing each rural growth investment; 46 (B) The name, location, and industry of each rural business concern 47 receiving a rural growth investment, including either the determination 48 notice described by paragraph nine of subdivision (c) of this section or 49 evidence that such determination was requested and no notice was 50 provided; 51 (C) The number of jobs created and jobs retained in the preceding 52 twelve month reporting period as a result of the rural business growth 53 fund's rural growth investments as of the last day of that period; 54 (D) The average annual salary of the jobs described by subparagraph 55 (C) of this paragraph; andA. 2552 9 1 (E) Any other information deemed pertinent by the rural business 2 growth fund or required by the department. 3 (2) The department shall adopt rules necessary to implement this 4 subdivision. 5 § 2. Section 1511 of the tax law is amended by adding a new subdivi- 6 sion (ee) to read as follows: 7 (ee) Credit for certain investments to a rural business growth fund. 8 (1) There is hereby allowed a nonrefundable tax credit for taxpayers 9 that made a credit-eligible capital contribution to a rural business 10 growth fund and were issued a tax credit certificate under subparagraph 11 (B) of paragraph six of subdivision (b) of section forty-five of this 12 chapter. The credit may be claimed against the tax imposed by this arti- 13 cle and section one thousand one hundred twelve of the insurance law. 14 The credit may not be sold, transferred, or allocated to any entity 15 other than an affiliate of the taxpayer. 16 (2) The taxpayer may claim credits authorized by the tax credit 17 certificate in the taxable year in which the third, fourth and fifth 18 anniversaries of the closing date in connection with which the certif- 19 icate issued occurs, provided that the maximum amount of credit for a 20 tax year that may be claimed is up to one-third of the amount stated on 21 the tax credit certificate, exclusive of amounts carried forward pursu- 22 ant to paragraph three of this subdivision. 23 (3) If the amount of the credit for a taxable year exceeds the tax 24 otherwise due for that year, the excess shall be carried forward to 25 ensuing taxable years until fully used. A taxpayer claiming a credit 26 under this section shall submit a copy of the tax credit certificate 27 with the taxpayer's return for each taxable year for which the credit is 28 claimed. 29 § 3. The tax law is amended by adding a new section 187-q to read as 30 follows: 31 § 187-q. Credit for certain investments to a rural business growth 32 fund. 1. There is hereby allowed a nonrefundable tax credit for taxpay- 33 ers that made a credit-eligible capital contribution to a rural business 34 growth fund and were issued a tax credit certificate under subparagraph 35 (B) of paragraph six of subdivision (b) of section forty-five of this 36 chapter. The credit may be claimed against the tax imposed by this arti- 37 cle. The credit may not be sold, transferred, or allocated to any entity 38 other than an affiliate of the taxpayer. 39 2. The taxpayer may claim credits authorized by the tax credit certif- 40 icate in the taxable year in which the third, fourth, and fifth anniver- 41 saries of the closing date in connection with which the certificate 42 issued occurs, provided that the maximum amount of credit for a tax year 43 that may be claimed is up to one-third of the amount stated on the tax 44 credit certificate, exclusive of amounts carried forward pursuant to 45 subdivision three of this section. In no event shall the credit under 46 this section be allowed in an amount which will reduce the tax payable 47 to less than the applicable minimum tax fixed by section one hundred 48 eighty-three of this article. 49 3. If the amount of the credit for a taxable year exceeds the tax 50 otherwise due for that year, the excess shall be carried forward to 51 ensuing taxable years until fully used. A taxpayer claiming a credit 52 under this section shall submit a copy of the tax credit certificate 53 with the taxpayer's return for each taxable year for which the credit is 54 claimed. 55 § 4. Section 210-B of the tax law is amended by adding a new subdivi- 56 sion 55 to read as follows:A. 2552 10 1 55. Credit for certain investments to a rural business growth fund. 2 (1) Allowance of credit. There is hereby allowed a nonrefundable tax 3 credit for taxpayers that made a credit-eligible capital contribution to 4 a rural business growth fund and were issued a tax credit certificate 5 under subparagraph (B) of paragraph six of subdivision (b) of section 6 forty-five of this chapter. The credit may be claimed against the tax 7 imposed by this article. The credit may not be sold, transferred, or 8 allocated to any entity other than an affiliate of the taxpayer. 9 (2) Amount of credit claimed. The taxpayer may claim credits author- 10 ized by the tax credit certificate in the taxable year in which the 11 third, fourth, and fifth anniversaries of the closing date in connection 12 with which the certificate issued occurs, provided that the maximum 13 amount of credit for a tax year that may be claimed is up to one-third 14 of the amount stated on the tax credit certificate, exclusive of amounts 15 carried forward pursuant to paragraph three of this subdivision. 16 (3) Application of credit. The credit allowed under this subdivision 17 for any taxable year shall not reduce the tax due for such year to less 18 than the amount prescribed in paragraph (d) of subdivision one of 19 section two hundred ten of this article. Provided, however, that if the 20 amount of the credit allowable under this subdivision for any taxable 21 year reduces the tax to such amount or if the taxpayer otherwise pays 22 tax based on the fixed dollar minimum amount, the excess shall be treat- 23 ed as an overpayment of tax to be credited in accordance with the 24 provisions of section one thousand eighty-six of this chapter. Provided, 25 further, notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (c) of section one 26 thousand eighty-eight of this chapter, no interest shall be paid there- 27 on. 28 § 5. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 99-ii to 29 read as follows: 30 § 99-ii. New York agriculture and rural jobs fund. 1. There is hereby 31 established in the joint custody of the state comptroller and the 32 commissioner of taxation and finance a special fund to be known as the 33 "New York agriculture and rural jobs fund". 34 2. Such fund shall consist of all application fees submitted pursuant 35 to subparagraph (F) of paragraph one of subdivision (b) of section 36 forty-five of the tax law, and all other moneys appropriated, credited, 37 or transferred thereto from any other fund or source pursuant to law. 38 3. Moneys of the fund, following appropriation by the legislature 39 shall be expended only for the purposes of providing funding for the New 40 York agriculture and rural jobs credit set forth in section forty-five 41 of the tax law. Moneys shall be paid out of the fund on the audit and 42 warrant of the state comptroller on vouchers approved and certified by 43 the commissioner of taxation and finance. Any interest received by the 44 comptroller on moneys on deposit in the New York agriculture and rural 45 jobs fund shall be retained in and become part of such fund. 46 § 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.