The Georgia Legislature enacted several important changes to the state’s economic development incentives during the 2009 session.

Several enhancements were made to BEST, Georgia’s Business Expansion Support Act. The Quality Jobs Tax Credit replaces the state’s existing Headquarters Tax Credit; the new credit rewards the creation of 50 or more high-paying, quality jobs. Companies receive a credit, allowable against payroll withholding liability,* on an increasing scale for establishing jobs paying higher than the average wage in a proposed county.
BEST legislation’s Port Tax Credit allows credit to be claimed for imports and exports. Credits will now be determined by the company’s change in port activity from the previous year instead of the original base year of 1997.

The Research & Development Tax Credit component of BEST now tie Georgia’s credit closer to the federal R&D credit calculation; credits will now be based on gross receipts instead of taxable net income and will not require three consecutive years positive taxable net income as previously stipulated.

Also, Georgia’s mega tax credit for companies that have large projects with high paying jobs was expanded to include projects other than manufacturing. The tax credit is now available to bio, energy, and financial sector projects. 

For detailed information on changes to Georgia’s incentives, click here, or to review our Business Incentives publication, click here or email us.

*Providing all income tax liability is met.