MS Code § 57-62-5 (2020)
2020 Mississippi Code|Title 57 - Planning, Research and Development|Chapter 62 - Mississippi Advantage Jobs Act|§ 57-62-5. Definitions

 [For businesses or industries that apply for incentive payments from and after July 1, 2010, this section shall read as follows:]   As used in this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed in this section unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:   "Qualified business or industry" means any corporation, limited liability company, partnership, sole proprietorship, business trust or other legal entity and subunits or affiliates thereof, pursuant to rules and regulations of the MDA, which:   Is a data/information processing enterprise meeting minimum criteria established by the MDA that provides an average annual salary, excluding benefits which are not subject to Mississippi income taxes, of at least one hundred percent (100%) of the most recently published state average annual wage or the most recently published average annual wage of the county in which the qualified business or industry is located as determined by the Mississippi Department of Employment Security, whichever is the lesser, and creates not less than two hundred (200) new direct jobs if the enterprise is located in a Tier One or Tier Two area (as such areas are designated in accordance with Section 57-73-21), or which creates not less than one hundred (100) new jobs if the enterprise is located in a Tier Three area (as such areas are designated in accordance with Section 57-73-21);   Is a manufacturing or distribution enterprise meeting minimum criteria established by the MDA that provides an average annual salary, excluding benefits which are not subject to Mississippi income taxes, of at least one hundred ten percent (110%) of the most recently published state average annual wage or the most recently published average annual wage of the county in which the qualified business or industry is located as determined by the Mississippi Department of Employment Security, whichever is the lesser, invests not less than Twenty Million Dollars ($20,000,000.00) in land, buildings and equipment, and creates not less than fifty (50) new direct jobs if the enterprise is located in a Tier One or Tier Two area (as such areas are designated in accordance with Section 57-73-21), or which creates not less than twenty (20) new jobs if the enterprise is located in a Tier Three area (as such areas are designated in accordance with Section 57-73-21);   Is a corporation, limited liability company, partnership, sole proprietorship, business trust or other legal entity and subunits or affiliates thereof, pursuant to rules and regulations of the MDA, which provides an average annual salary, excluding benefits which are not subject to Mississippi income taxes, of at least one hundred twenty-five percent (125%) of the most recently published state average annual wage or the most recently published average annual wage of the county in which the qualified business or industry is located as determined by the Mississippi Department of Employment Security, whichever is the lesser, and creates not less than twenty-five (25) new direct jobs if the enterprise is located in a Tier One or Tier Two area (as such areas are designated in accordance with Section 57-73-21), or which creates not less than ten (10) new jobs if the enterprise is located in a Tier Three area (as such areas are designated in accordance with Section 57-73-21). An establishment shall not be considered to be a qualified business or industry unless it offers, or will offer within one hundred eighty (180) days of the date it receives the first incentive payment pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, a basic health benefits plan to the individuals it employs in new direct jobs in this state which is approved by the MDA. Qualified business or industry does not include retail business or gaming business; or   Is a research and development or a technology intensive enterprise meeting minimum criteria established by the MDA that provides an average annual salary, excluding benefits which are not subject to Mississippi income taxes, of at least one hundred fifty percent (150%) of the most recently published state average annual wage or the most recently published average annual wage of the county in which the qualified business or industry is located as determined by the Mississippi Department of Employment Security, whichever is the lesser, and creates not less than ten (10) new direct jobs.   An establishment shall not be considered to be a qualified business or industry unless it offers, or will offer within one hundred eighty (180) days of the date it receives the first incentive payment pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, a basic health benefits plan to the individuals it employs in new direct jobs in this state which is approved by the MDA. Qualified business or industry does not include retail business or gaming business.   "New direct job" means full-time employment in this state in a qualified business or industry that has qualified to receive an incentive payment pursuant to this chapter, which employment did not exist in this state before the date of approval by the MDA of the application of the qualified business or industry pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. "New direct job" shall include full-time employment in this state of employees who are employed by an entity other than the establishment that has qualified to receive an incentive payment and who are leased to the qualified business or industry, if such employment did not exist in this state before the date of approval by the MDA of the application of the establishment.   "Full-time job" or "full-time employment" means a job of at least thirty-five (35) hours per week.   "Estimated direct state benefits" means the tax revenues projected by the MDA to accrue to the state as a result of the qualified business or industry.   "Estimated direct state costs" means the costs projected by the MDA to accrue to the state as a result of the qualified business or industry.   "Estimated net direct state benefits" means the estimated direct state benefits less the estimated direct state costs.   "Net benefit rate" means the estimated net direct state benefits computed as a percentage of gross payroll, provided that:   Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph (g), the net benefit rate may be variable and shall not exceed four percent (4%) of the gross payroll; and shall be set in the sole discretion of the MDA;   In no event shall incentive payments, cumulatively, exceed the estimated net direct state benefits.   "Gross payroll" means wages for new direct jobs of the qualified business or industry.   "MDA" means the Mississippi Development Authority.