GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1999

H	1 

HOUSE BILL 1560*

Short Title:  Modify Bill Lee Tax Credits.	(Public)

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Sponsors: Representatives Allen, Gray, Hill, Jarrell, Luebke, Miller, Pope, Tucker; and Owens.

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Referred to:  Finance.

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May 17, 2000

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO MODIFY THE INCOME TAX CREDIT FOR JOB CREATION, TO MAKE A CORRECTION TO THE CREDIT FOR INVESTING IN MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT, AND TO CLARIFY THAT A TAXPAYER WHO CLAIMS A TAX CREDIT UNDER THE WILLIAM S. LEE ACT LOSES ANY REMAINING INSTALLMENTS IF THE TAXPAYER CEASES TO ENGAGE IN AN ELIGIBLE BUSINESS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 105-129.8(a) reads as rewritten:
	"(a)	Credit. – A taxpayer that meets the eligibility requirements set out in G.S. 105-129.4, has five or more full-time employees, and hires an additional full-time employee during that year to fill a position located in this State is allowed a credit for creating a new full-time job. The amount of the credit for each new full-time job created is set out in the table below and is based on the enterprise tier of the area in which the position is located. In addition, if the position is located in a development zone, the amount of the credit is increased by four thousand dollars ($4,000) per job.
	Area Enterprise Tier	Amount of Credit
	Tier One        	$12,500
Tier Two       	4,000
Tier Three        	3,000
Tier Four        	1,000
Tier Five        	500
A position is located in an area if more than fifty percent (50%) of the employee's duties are performed in the area. The credit may not be taken in the taxable year in which the additional employee is hired. Instead, the credit shall be taken in equal installments over the four years following the taxable year in which the additional employee was hired and shall be conditioned on the continued employment by the taxpayer of the number of full-time employees the taxpayer had upon hiring the employee that caused the taxpayer to qualify for the credit.
If, in one of the four years in which the installment of a credit accrues, the number of the taxpayer's full-time employees falls below the number of full-time employees the taxpayer had in the year in which the taxpayer qualified for the credit, the credit expires and the taxpayer may not take any remaining installment of the credit. The taxpayer may, however, take the portion of an installment that accrued in a previous year and was carried forward to the extent permitted under G.S. 105-129.5.
Jobs transferred from one area in the State to another area in the State shall not be considered new jobs for purposes of this section. If, in one of the four years in which the installment of a credit accrues, the position filled by the employee is moved to an area in a higher- or lower-numbered enterprise tier, or is moved from a development zone to an area that is not a development zone, the remaining installments of the credit shall be calculated as if the position had been created initially in the area to which it was moved."
Section 2.  G.S. 105-129.9 reads as rewritten:
"§ 105-129.9.  Credit for investing in machinery and equipment.
(a)	General Credit. – If a taxpayer that has purchased or leased eligible machinery and equipment places them in service in this State during the taxable year, the taxpayer is allowed a credit equal to seven percent (7%) of the excess of the eligible investment amount over the applicable threshold.  Machinery and equipment are eligible if they are capitalized by the taxpayer for tax purposes under the Code and not leased to another party.  In addition, in the case of a large investment, machinery and equipment that are not capitalized by the taxpayer are eligible if the taxpayer leases them from another party.  The credit may not be taken for the taxable year in which the machinery and equipment are placed in service but shall be taken in equal installments over the seven years following the taxable year in which they are placed in service.
(a1)	Technology Commercialization Credit. – If a taxpayer is eligible for the credit allowed in this section with respect to eligible machinery and equipment and qualifies for one of the credits allowed in G.S. 105-129.9A with respect to the same machinery and equipment, the taxpayer may choose to take one of those credits instead of the credit allowed in this section.  A taxpayer may take the credit allowed in this section or one of the credits allowed in G.S. 105-129.9A during a taxable year with respect to eligible machinery and equipment, but may not take more than one of these credits with respect to the same machinery and equipment.
(b)	Eligible Investment Amount. – The eligible investment amount is the lesser of (i) the cost of the eligible machinery and equipment and (ii) the amount by which the cost of all of the taxpayer's eligible machinery and equipment that are in service in this State on the last day of the taxable year exceeds the cost of all of the taxpayer's eligible machinery and equipment that were in service in this State on the last day of the base year. The base year is that year, of the three immediately preceding taxable years, in which the taxpayer had the most eligible machinery and equipment in service in this State.  A taxpayer that claims a credit under this section must include with the application for certification required under G.S. 105-129.6(a) specific documentation supporting the taxpayer's calculation of the eligible investment amount under this subsection.
(c)	Threshold. – The applicable threshold is the appropriate amount set out in the following table based on the enterprise tier of the area where the eligible machinery and equipment are placed in service during the taxable year. If the taxpayer places eligible machinery and equipment in service in more than one area during the taxable year, the threshold applies separately to the eligible machinery and equipment placed in service in each area.  If the taxpayer places eligible machinery and equipment in service in an area over the course of a two-year period, the applicable threshold for the second taxable year is reduced by the eligible investment amount for the previous taxable year.
Area Enterprise Tier	Threshold
Tier One	$   -0-  
Tier Two	100,000
Tier Three	200,000
Tier Four	500,000
Tier Five	1,000,000
(d)	Expiration. – If, in one of the seven years in which the installment of a credit accrues, the machinery and equipment with respect to which the credit was claimed are disposed of, taken out of service, or moved out of State, the credit expires and the taxpayer may not take any remaining installment of the credit for that machinery and equipment unless the cost of that machinery and equipment is offset in the same taxable year by the taxpayer's new investment in eligible machinery and equipment placed in service in the same enterprise tier, as provided in this subsection.  If, during the taxable year the taxpayer disposed of the machinery and equipment for which installments remain, there has been a net reduction in the cost of all the taxpayer's eligible machinery and equipment that are in service in the same enterprise tier as the machinery and equipment that were disposed of, and the amount of this reduction is greater than twenty percent (20%) of the cost of the machinery and equipment that were disposed of, then the taxpayer forfeits the remaining installments of the credit for the machinery and equipment that were disposed of.  If the amount of the net reduction is equal to twenty percent (20%) or less of the cost of the machinery and equipment that were disposed of, or if there is no net reduction, then the taxpayer does not forfeit the remaining installments of the expired credit.  In determining the amount of any net reduction during the taxable year, the cost of machinery and equipment the taxpayer placed in service during the taxable year and for which the taxpayer claims a credit under Article 3B of this Chapter may not be included in the cost of all the taxpayer's eligible machinery and equipment that are in service.  If in a single taxable year machinery and equipment with respect to two or more credits in the same tier are disposed of, the net reduction in the cost of all the taxpayer's eligible machinery and equipment that are in service in the same tier is compared to the total cost of all the machinery and equipment for which credits expired in order to determine whether the remaining installments of the credits are forfeited.
The expiration of a credit does not prevent the taxpayer from taking the portion of an installment that accrued in a previous year and was carried forward to the extent permitted under G.S. 105-129.5. 
If, in one of the seven years in which the installment of a credit accrues, the machinery and equipment with respect to which the credit was claimed are moved to an area in a higher-numbered enterprise tier, or are moved from a development zone to an area that is not a development zone, the remaining installments of the credit are allowed only to the extent they would have been allowed if the machinery and equipment had been placed in service initially in the area to which they were moved.
(e)	Planned Expansion. – A taxpayer that signs a letter of commitment with the Department of Commerce to place specific eligible machinery and equipment in service in an area within two years after the date the letter is signed may, in the year the eligible machinery and equipment are placed in service in that area, calculate the credit for which the taxpayer qualifies based on the area's enterprise tier and development zone designation for the year the letter was signed. All other conditions apply to the credit, but if the area has been redesignated to a higher-numbered enterprise tier or has lost its development zone designation after the year the letter of commitment was signed, the credit is allowed based on the area's enterprise tier and development zone designation for the year the letter was signed. If the taxpayer does not place part or all of the specified eligible machinery and equipment in service within the two-year period, the taxpayer does not qualify for the benefit of this subsection with respect to the machinery and equipment not placed in service within the two-year period. However, if the taxpayer qualifies for a credit in the year the eligible machinery and equipment are placed in service, the taxpayer may take the credit for that year as if no letter of commitment had been signed pursuant to this subsection."
Section 3.  G.S. 105-129.4 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"( a2)	Expiration. – If, during the period that installments of a credit under this Article accrue, the taxpayer is no longer engaged in one of the types of business described in subsection (a) of this section, the credit expires and the taxpayer may not take any remaining installments of the credit.  The taxpayer may, however, take the portion of an installment that accrued in a previous year and was carried forward to the extent permitted under G.S. 105-129.5."
Section 4.  This act is effective for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2000.