Form IT-252: Investment Tax Credit for the Financial Services Industry (Tax Year 2025)

Form IT-252 is the New York State tax form that financial services companies use to claim the Investment Tax Credit tied to qualified property placed in service during the tax year. It’s issued by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance and applies specifically to banks, broker-dealers, and other businesses operating principally in the financial services sector rather than general manufacturing or production activities.

This credit exists as a variation of New York’s standard investment tax credit, but with rules tailored to how financial firms invest in equipment, buildings, and technology. If your business is a bank, a bank holding company, a registered broker-dealer, or another entity whose primary function falls under the financial services classification defined by the state, this is likely the form you need instead of the general investment tax credit form used by other industries.

Who Needs to File Form IT-252

You need this form if your business meets New York’s definition of a financial services company and you placed qualified tangible property in service during 2025. That property generally includes buildings, structural components, and certain equipment used in the ordinary course of your financial services business — think data processing centers, trading floor infrastructure, or facilities used to conduct broker-dealer operations.

The credit is not available to every corporation that happens to invest in equipment. New York draws a clear line between manufacturing/production businesses (which use different investment credit forms) and financial services entities, which must use IT-252. If you’re unsure which category your business falls into, the instructions accompanying the form outline the specific SIC codes and business activity descriptions that qualify.

When to Use This Form

Form IT-252 is filed alongside your New York State corporation tax return for the year in which the qualified property was placed in service. If you’re claiming the credit for property acquired or completed during 2025, this form gets attached to your 2025 tax filing. Businesses that have carryover credit amounts from prior years because their credit exceeded their tax liability may also need to reference prior IT-252 filings to calculate the correct carryforward figure this year.

Keep in mind that the credit percentage and eligible investment thresholds can change from year to year based on state tax law updates, so it’s worth checking the instructions for the specific tax year you’re filing rather than assuming last year’s numbers still apply.

How to Fill Out and Submit Form IT-252

The form itself asks for details about the qualifying property, including its cost, the date it was placed in service, and the applicable credit rate for financial services investments. You’ll need to calculate the credit base, apply the correct percentage, and then determine how much of the credit can be used against your current tax liability versus how much carries forward to future years.

Since this is an AcroForm-enabled PDF, you can fill in the fields directly on your computer before printing or attaching it to your electronic filing. This makes it easier to keep a clean, legible copy and avoid the errors that come with handwriting numbers into small form fields. Double-check your calculations against the worksheet in the instructions, since a mismatch between the credit computation and your corporation tax return is one of the more common reasons these claims get flagged for review.

Financial services companies that also invest in other credit-eligible activities should check whether they qualify for related programs. For example, businesses purchasing alternative fuel vehicles might need Form IT-253 for the Alternative Fuels Credit, while those investing in renewable energy infrastructure at their facilities could look into Form IT-255 for the Solar Energy System Equipment Credit. Smaller credits, like the one covered in Form IT-250 for AED purchases, can sometimes be claimed in the same filing year if your business made those purchases too.

Because IT-252 involves industry-specific eligibility rules, it’s worth having your accountant or tax preparer confirm that your business activities meet the financial services definition before submitting the claim, particularly if your company has mixed operations that span both financial services and other business lines.