Form IT-660: Empire State Digital Gaming Media Production Credit (Tax Year 2025)

Form IT-660 is the official New York State tax form used to claim the Empire State Digital Gaming Media Production Credit. It’s issued by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance and applies to Tax Year 2025. This credit was created to encourage digital gaming studios and related media production companies to base their operations, and their spending, within New York State rather than taking that work elsewhere.

If your company develops video games, interactive media, or digital gaming content and incurs qualified production costs in New York, this form is how you convert those expenses into a tax credit against your state tax liability. The credit generally covers a percentage of qualified production costs tied to wages, facilities, and other eligible expenditures directly connected to digital gaming projects produced within the state.

Who Needs to File Form IT-660

This form is meant for businesses actively engaged in digital gaming media production in New York State that have already applied for and received an allocation certificate or credit allocation from the appropriate state program administrator. You can’t simply claim this credit because you spent money on game development; you need documented proof that your project and expenses were certified as eligible under the Empire State Digital Gaming Media Production Credit program.

Typical filers include game studios, animation and visual effects houses working on interactive gaming content, and production companies that partnered with New York-based vendors and employees to complete a digital gaming project. Sole proprietors, partnerships, and corporations that meet the program’s certification requirements can all be eligible, provided they hold the proper allocation documentation before filing.

When Form IT-660 Is Used

You’ll use this form when filing your New York State tax return for the year in which the qualified production costs were incurred and certified. Since the credit is allocation-based, timing matters: businesses must first go through the certification process with the administering agency before the costs can be claimed on IT-660. Once certified, the form is attached to your personal income tax or corporation tax return, depending on how your business is structured.

Companies that also produce traditional broadcast or print content alongside digital gaming projects sometimes deal with multiple related credits in the same filing season. For instance, businesses with print or broadcast operations might also review Form IT-665 for the Newspaper and Broadcast Media Jobs Credit, since media companies sometimes qualify for more than one New York production or jobs incentive depending on their business lines.

How to Get and Fill Out Form IT-660

Form IT-660 is available as a fillable PDF directly from the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance website. Because it’s built as an AcroForm, you can type your information directly into the fields on your computer before printing or attaching it to your electronic filing, which cuts down on errors compared to handwriting entries.

When completing the form, you’ll need your certification or allocation documentation on hand, along with a breakdown of your qualified production costs for the tax year. The form will ask you to identify the certified project, report the associated costs, and calculate the credit amount based on the percentage set by the program. Double-check that the figures on IT-660 match what was approved in your certification letter, since discrepancies between the two can delay processing or trigger a request for additional documentation from the Department.

Businesses that work with multiple state credits and want to keep their filing organized often benefit from reviewing related guidance, such as Form IT-661 for the Farm Employer Overtime Credit, simply to understand how New York structures allocation-based credits across different industries. Keep copies of your completed IT-660, supporting cost documentation, and certification paperwork together in case the Department requests verification after you file.