Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 61 - REVENUE AND TAXATION › Part I - Taxes Collected and Administered by the Secretary of Revenue › Chapter 16 - Louisiana Entertainment Industry Tax Credit Programs › Subchapter C - Louisiana Sound Recording Investor Tax Credit Program › Section I-1665 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A. Terms not
				  otherwise defined in this Chapter shall have the same meaning given to them in
				  R.S.
				  47:6022, unless the context clearly requires
				  otherwise.
B. In this Chapter, the
				  following terms shall have the meanings provided herein, unless the context
				  clearly indicates otherwise.
3D Geometry
-electronic media
					 representations, three dimensional representations of geometric data for the
					 purposes of rendering 2D image and performing calculations.
Animated Images
-electronic media
					 representation of images that comprise a series of chronological fixed
					 images.
Base Investment
-the actual funds expended
					 in Louisiana by a state-certified production as production-related costs for
					 design or development of digital interactive media, including costs for payroll
					 and component parts.
Commercial
					 Distribution
-
distribution of digital content from
					 producer to consumer. Examples may include but not be limited to physical
					 distribution of DVD's from a store front retailer or digital distribution of
					 content, streamed or downloaded via the internet.
Commercial Release
the date when the
					 product is first commercially available for sale to or use by the general
					 public, typically after beta testing or similar quality control testing by a
					 limited number of users.
Company
-an entity authorized to do
					 business in the state of Louisiana, engaged in the business of producing
					 digital interactive media as defined in this Section. Company shall not mean or
					 include any company owned, affiliated, or controlled, in whole or in part, by
					 any company or person which is in default on a loan made by the state or a loan
					 guaranteed by the state, nor with any company or person who has ever declared
					 bankruptcy under which an obligation of the company or person to pay or repay
					 public funds or monies was discharged as part of such bankruptcy.
Component Parts
-all elements that are
					 integral to the functioning or development of such products and platforms. Some
					 examples may be, but are not limited to: software, computer code, image files,
					 music files, audio files, scripts and plays, concept mock-ups, software tools,
					 and testing procedures. Shall also include, but not be limited to: computer
					 servers, workstations, server racks, hard drives, optical drives, monitors,
					 keyboards, integrated video and audio equipment, networking routers, switches,
					 network cabling, and any other computer-related hardware necessary to create or
					 operate a digital interactive media product or platform.
Create
or
operate
refers to the creation or
					 operation of the digital platform or product and does not refer to the creation
					 or operation of the parent company.
Department
-Department of Economic
					 Development.
Digital Content
-intellectual property that
					 is published or distributed via a digital media platform or product, including
					 but not limited to software, computer code, image files, music files, audio
					 files, video files, text, data, and streaming video.
Digital Interactive Media
-products or
					 platforms that are:
a. intended for commercial production, use or
					 distribution;
b. contain at least two of the following types of data:
					 text, sound, fixed images, video, or 3D geometry; and
c. that have all of the following three
					 characteristics:
i.
digital
-a system that uses discrete
					 (discontinuous) values ordinarily symbolized numerically to represent
					 information for input, processing, transmission and storage. A
digital
system would be contrasted with an analog system which
					 uses a continuous range of values to represent information. The term
digital
includes, but is not limited to information input,
					 processed, transmitted and stored via the internet;
ii.
interactive
-a digital media system for
					 inputting, processing, transmitting or storing information or data in which
					 users of the system are able to respond to the digital media system by
					 inputting, transmitting, processing or storing information or data in response
					 to the information or data provided to them through the digital media system.
					 (
Digital media
system
means communication
					 delivered via electronic energy where the information stored, transmitted, or
					 received is in digital form);
iii.
media
-communication tools used to
					 store, transmit, distribute and deliver information and data. It includes
					 methods and mechanisms for information distribution through, but not limited to
					 distributed networks, such as the internet, and through compact disc, CD-ROM,
					 various types of DVD, and other removable storage drives and devices;
d.
digital interactive media
may include,
					 but not be limited to:
i. video or interactive games;
ii. simulation software;
iii. interactive educational or training products;
iv. internet sites designed and developed as social
					 media;
v. software applications that provide connectivity; and
					 communications between mobile devices and digital interactive media web
					 platforms; and
vi. technology designed to stream live or pre-recorded
					 video content over the internet to large simultaneous audiences;
e.
digital interactive media
shall not
					 include:
i. software development primarily designed and developed
					 for institutional, private or internal purposes;
ii. largely static internet sites designed to provide
					 information about a person, business, or firm;
iii. products regulated under the Louisiana Gaming Control
					 Law or the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act; or
iv. largely static retail websites. When determining
					 eligibility, LED will consider amount of proposed programming work versus use
					 of pre-built templates and any other factors it deems most appropriate under
					 the circumstances.
Digital Media Products or
					 Platforms
-
the basic infrastructure that allows
					 various media file types to coexist in an integrated, customized content
					 loop:
a.
product
- any audiovisual work embodied
					 in software or other digital electronic form that are only capable of being
					 used with a platform. Examples may include, but not be limited to software
					 games;
b.
platform
- a software architecture that
					 serves as a foundation or base upon which other products, processes or
					 technologies are developed. Software
platforms
should provide
					 base functionality and communicate back and forth with other software
					 products.
Director
- the
director
of Digital Media, who is the designee of the secretary of the Department of
					 Economic Development.
Electronic Media
- tools used to store,
					 transmit, and receive digitized information that utilizes electronics or
					 electromechanical energy to access the content.
Expended in Louisiana
- an expenditure to
					 lease immovable property located within the state; and expenditure as
					 compensation for services performed in the state; or an expenditure to purchase
					 or lease tangible personal property within the state where the transaction is
					 subject to the state sales or lease tax provisions of Title 47 of the Revised
					 Statutes of 1950. A transaction that is subject to the state sales or lease tax
					 provisions of Title 47 of the Revised Statutes of 1950 shall include
					 transactions which are also subject to a statutory exclusion or
					 exemption.
Expenditure
-actual payment of cash or cash
					 equivalent for goods or services, as evidenced by an invoice, receipt or other
					 such document. Cash or cash equivalent transactions may include but not be
					 limited to: commercial or bank financed loans, actual physical transfer of
					 coins and banknotes, other forms of transmission that will turn into cash very
					 quickly, including written checks, credit cards, bank debit cards, and bank
					 wire transfers. However, the receipt of a promissory note, the creation of an
					 account receivable, or the sending of a customer invoice are not, by
					 themselves, evidence of an
expenditure
. Owner-financed
					 transactions will only qualify as an
expenditure
when actual
					 cash or cash equivalent payments are made.
Fixed Images
- electronic media
					 representation in two dimensions that are static.
Indirect Costs
- not direct production
					 related costs. Costs of operation that are not directly associated with a
					 specific production, such as clerical salaries and general administrative
					 costs.
Interpersonal Communication Services
-
					 websites and other digital media that are primarily for the purposes of
					 exchanging personal or business information, photos or news. Examples of this
					 may be, but are not limited to: those listed in
					 R.S.
					 47:6022(C)(4), web logs,
					 product websites, social networking websites, video conferencing, internet
					 telephony and instant messaging platforms.
Office
- Office of Entertainment Industry
					 Development.
Payroll
-
includes all
					 salary, wages and other compensation sourced or apportioned to Louisiana, and
					 federal payroll taxes such as the employer's portion of FICA/FUTA and workers'
					 compensation insurance costs to the extent purchased from a source within the
					 state. Fringe Benefits including health care costs, 401K contributions, dental
					 plans, and life insurance will be considered if these costs are paid by the
					 employer and costs are apportioned to services performed in Louisiana on a
					 certified project.
Person
- a natural person, corporation,
					 partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, joint venture,
					 trust, estate or association.
Production Expenses
-
preproduction and production expenditures in the state directly
					 relating to and proportionate with work performed in Louisiana on a
					 state-certified production. In qualifying submitted expenditures as
					 production-related costs, LED may determine whether such expenditures represent
					 legitimate expenditures for the actual cost of related goods or services,
					 having economic substance and a business purpose related to the certified
					 production, and not constructive dividends, self-dealing, inflated prices or
					 similar transactions entered into for the purpose of inflating the amount of
					 tax credits earned rather than for the benefit of the production. See
					 §1668 for detailed illustrative examples
					 of eligible and ineligible expenditures commonly associated with digital
					 interactive media projects.
Resident
or
Resident of
					 Louisiana
- a natural person and, for the purposes of determining
					 eligibility for the tax incentives provided by this section, any person
					 domiciled in the state of Louisiana and any other person who maintains a
					 permanent place of abode within the state and spends in the aggregate more than
					 six months of each year within the state.
Secretary
- secretary of the Department of
					 Economic Development.
State-Certified Production
- a digital
					 interactive media production, or a component part thereof, approved by the
					 office.
Tax Credit
-digital interactive media and
					 software development
tax credit
.
Transferee
- an individual or entity that
					 receives a transfer of investor tax credits.
Transferor
- an individual or entity that
					 makes a transfer of an investor tax credit.
AUTHORITY NOTE:
					 Promulgated in accordance with
					 R.S.
					 47:6022.