INCENTIVES:  2009 Legislative Changes

The Georgia Legislature enacted several important changes to the state’s economic development incentives. Here is a brief overview:

Mega Tax Credit:  Georgia is one of the only states in the country that offers a tax incentive to companies that create large projects with high paying jobs.  Revisions to the Mega Tax Credit expand eligibility of this existing credit to projects other than manufacturing, to also include bio, energy, and financial sectors. It is a tax credit against payroll withholding liability to a company that hires 1,800 new employees and has an investment of more than $450 million or an annual payroll greater than $150 million.  As before, the credit is $5,250 per job and may not be taken with other tax credits.

Changes to Georgia’s Business Expansion Support Act (BEST)

1) Quality Jobs Tax Credit: Replaces the 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.

2). Port Tax Credit:  Allows Port credit to be claimed for imports and exports and updating the base year in which the credits are calculated; credits will be determined by change in port activity from the previous year instead of the original base year of 1997.

3). Research & Development Tax Credit: Changes 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.
For detailed information on changes to Georgia’s incentives, visit http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/leg/govsign.htm