NYC BioTech Tax Credit

The Biotechnology Tax Credit helps investors and owners of qualified emerging technology companies (QETCs) focused on biotechnology to claim a tax credit for certain costs in New York City. These costs include:

• Facilities
• Operations
• Employee training

You can claim the credit for up to three years in a row. This applies to years starting on or after January 1, 2010, and ending on or before January 1, 2019.

A QETC in New York City must have total annual product sales of $10 million or less. It must also meet one of these criteria:

• Its main products or services are classified as emerging technologies.
• It has research and development (R&D) activities in New York City. Its ratio of R&D funds to net sales must be equal to or higher than the average ratio for all surveyed companies (as determined by the National Science Foundation).

Eligibility

To claim the Biotechnology Tax Credit, you must meet these criteria:

• Have no more than 100 full-time employees, with at least 75 percent of those employees in New York City.
• Have a ratio of R&D funds to net sales that equals or exceeds 6 percent.
• Have gross revenues that did not exceed $20 million for the previous year.

Credit amount

The amount of the credit is the sum of these amounts:

• R&D property costs: 18 percent of the cost or other basis of R&D property, and certain other costs and fees for new technology activities
• Qualified research expenses: 9 percent of qualified research expenses paid or incurred by the taxpayer
• High-technology training expenses: 100 percent of high-technology training expenses paid or incurred by the taxpayer, limited to $4,000 per employee per year

The total credit you can claim cannot be more than $250,000 per year. More details on new technology definitions and eligibility requirements are available in the NYC Department of Finance Biotechnology Tax Credit Application Definitions and Instructions.

Claiming the credit

You can claim the facilities, operations and training credit for three consecutive tax years. If you cannot use the full credit in the current year, you can get a refund without interest or apply it to next year's tax. If you are part of a combined group, you can still claim the credit. The credit is computed separately and applied against the combined tax.

The Department of Finance will decide the amount of biotechnology credit you can claim on your General Corporation Tax or Unincorporated Business Tax return. It will mail a certificate of eligibility to you by February 15.

The Department of Finance will decide the amount of biotechnology credit you can claim on your General Corporation Tax or Unincorporated Business Tax return. It will mail a certificate of eligibility to you by February 15.