(b) A farm employer is a corporation (including a New York S corporation), a sole proprietorship, a limited liability company or a partnership who is also an eligible farmer.

(c) For purposes of this section, the term "eligible farmer" means a taxpayer whose federal gross income from farming as defined in subsection (n) of section six hundred six of this chapter for the taxable year is at least two-thirds of excess federal gross income. Excess federal gross income means the amount of federal gross income from all sources for the taxable year in excess of thirty thousand dollars. For purposes of this section, payments from the state's farmland protection program, administered by the department of agriculture and markets, shall be included as federal gross income from farming for otherwise eligible farmers.

(d) An eligible farm employee is an individual who is employed for five hundred hours or more per taxable year, by a farm employer in New York state, but excluding general executive officers of the farm employer; provided, however, that where an individual employed by a farm employer in New York state becomes unable to work due to a documented illness or disability, the hours such individual is employed may be combined with the hours worked by an individual hired to replace such individual when determining whether the five hundred hour threshold has been met.

(d-1) Special rules. If more than fifty percent of such eligible farmer's federal gross income from farming is from the sale of wine from a licensed farm winery as provided for in article six of the alcoholic beverage control law, or from the sale of cider from a licensed farm cidery as provided for in section fifty-eight-c of the alcoholic beverage control law, then an eligible farm employee of such eligible farmer shall be included for purposes of calculating the amount of credit allowed under this section only if such eligible farm employee is employed by such eligible farmer on qualified agricultural property as defined in paragraph four of subsection (n) of section six hundred six of this chapter.

(e) For taxable years beginning on or after January first, two thousand seventeen and before January first, two thousand eighteen, the amount of the credit allowed under this section shall be equal to the product of the total number of eligible farm employees and two hundred fifty dollars. For taxable years beginning on or after January first, two thousand eighteen and before January first, two thousand nineteen, the amount of the credit allowed under this section shall be equal to the product of the total number of eligible farm employees and three hundred dollars. For taxable years beginning on or after January first, two thousand nineteen and before January first, two thousand twenty, the amount of the credit allowed under this section shall be equal to the product of the total number of eligible farm employees and five hundred dollars. For taxable years beginning on or after January first, two thousand twenty and before January first, two thousand twenty-one, the amount of the credit allowed under this section shall be equal to the product of the total number of eligible farm employees and four hundred dollars. For taxable years beginning on or after January first, two thousand twenty-one and before January first, two thousand twenty-two, the amount of the credit allowed under this section shall be equal to the product of the total number of eligible farm employees and six hundred dollars.

(f) A taxpayer claiming the credit allowed under this section shall not be allowed to claim any other tax credit allowed under this chapter with respect to any eligible farm employee included in the total number of eligible farm employees used to determine the amount of the credit allowed under this section.

(g) Cross references: For application of the credit provided in this section, see the following provisions of this chapter:

(1) Article 9-A: Section 210-B, subdivision 51.

(2) Article 22: Section 606, subsection (fff).