Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 61 - REVENUE AND TAXATION › Part I - Taxes Collected and Administered by the Secretary of Revenue › Chapter 67 - Louisiana Entertainment Industry Tax Credit Programs › Section I-6765 - 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 DVDs 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-
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
				prerecorded 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 employers 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. Payments made to employees with an
				  H-1B temporary visa or independent contractors issued 1099 tax forms, shall not
				  be considered payments to Louisiana residents for the purposes of calculating
				  the additional Louisiana resident payroll credit.
Secretary
-secretary of the Department of
				  Economic Development.
Source within the State
-a physical facility
				  in Louisiana, operating with posted business hours and employing at least one
				  full-time equivalent employee.
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.