Taxes and Incentives
Georgia provides a wide variety of statutory and negotiated incentives to help eligible businesses realize their goals. As active and interested business partners, Georgia and Pike County will work with your company to provide the most attractive incentive packages, commensurate with project needs and determine resource availability.
Lower taxes and a lower cost of living enable you to do more with the money you make and maintain a higher standard of living. Home prices, energy rates and office space are all index below national averages for comparable areas of the state and country.
Businesses are nurtured by Georgia’s vast resources and services, designed to speed and sustain economic growth and market success. In Georgia, you can transform a prospective business venture into a thriving enterprise by utilizing the state’s many financial incentives.
Impact Fees
The Development Authority works in conjunction with local government to recommend reduction or waiver of impact fees for target businesses with extraordinary positive economic impact. Final decisions are made by the local government entity.
Local Incentives
The Development Authority considers new business tax incentives on a case-by-case basis. These incentives are based on positive economic impact on the community criteria for consideration includes the project's amount of capital investment as well as number and quality of new jobs created. Effective Sales and Use Tax Rate: Pike County 7% Real and Personal Property (Ad Valorem Taxes) – These taxes are stated in terms of millage rates, the dollars of taxes to be paid for each $1,000 of the real property’s assessed valuation. In Pike County , the assessed evaluation rate is 40% of the property’s fair market value. – All rates are set at the local level, except the State portion of the tax, which is fixed by Georgia law at a rate of 0.25 mills. Tax Formula: Value x .40/1000 x Millage = Tax (Current Tax Rate)
Effective Property Tax Rates
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Sales and Use Tax
A 4% statewide sales tax is paid by Georgia companies at the time of purchase. The statewide tax applies to purchases (other than real estate) delivered to or stored in Georgia to be used or consumed in the business (not for resale). Includes: natural gas, oil, gasoline, telephone, artificial gas, steam, electricity, and rentals.
In order to reduce property taxes, the 4% statewide sales tax has been increased to 5% in over half of Georgia ’s 159 counties. Some counties levy an additional 1% sales tax to reduce property tax levies.
Freeport Exemptions
Pike County offers Georgia "Freeport Exemptions". Freeport is up to 100% inventory tax exemption for up to 10 years on goods sold outside the state of Georgia.
Georgia Sales and Use Tax
Manufacturing production machinery is exempt from state and local sales tax, as well as machinery or components bought to upgrade or replace existing machinery, additionally, the exemption covers re- manufacturing of aircraft engines and components.
The concept of exempting production machinery has been extended to warehouses and distribution centers; their primary material handing equipment is exempt from sales tax if the company invests $5 million or more in a new or expanded facility.
Computer equipment that is purchased or leased for use at the facilities of a high technology company is exempt when the total purchase (or lease) value exceeds $15 million.
Machinery, equipment and materials purchased and used in a clean room of Class 100 or less are exempt.
Electricity interacting directly with a manufactured product is exempt if the total cost of the electricity is more than half the cost of all materials used (including electricity) in making the product.
Job Tax Credits
Job tax credits are available to a business or to its headquarters engaged in any of the following six categories: manufacturing, telecommunications, warehouse distribution, research & development, processing or tourism. Taxpayers may choose between job tax credits or investment tax credits. As a member of a Joint Development Authority and a Tier 3 county, Pike County’s tax credit is $1,750 per job each year for a minimum of 15 jobs created.
For additional information on Job Tax Credits click here.
Investment Tax Credits
Investment tax credits for Pike County are 1% for a qualified capital investment. Investment tax credits are available to an existing manufacturing or telecommunications business that has operated a facility in Georgia for three years prior to the investment and invests $50,000 or more. A tax credit of 3% is available for investment in recycled equipment, pollution control equipment, and for the conversion of a defense plant to manufacturing of a new product. The recycle, pollution control, and defense conversion options are available only for manufacturing plants. Taxpayers must choose either the investment tax credit or the job tax credit.
For additional info click here
Optional Investment Tax Credits
The optional investment tax credit can be taken in lieu of the investment tax credit. The credits range from 10 percent to 6 percent of qualified capital investment.
This credit is available to taxpayers that qualify for investment tax credits. The requirements are the same except for the minimum investment ranging from $5 to $20 million. A taxpayer can use the tax credits up to the calculated amount for a given year. The credit may be claimed up to 10 years following the year the property was first placed in service provided the property remains in service.
Retraining Tax Credit
The retraining tax credit is one-half the employer's approved direct retraining cost up to $500 per employee. The credit is available to all business categories. Before a taxpayer applies for the credits, its retraining program must be approved by the Georgia Department of Technical & Adult Education. The retraining program must be for new equipment, a new technology, or a new operating system. The retraining tax credit can be used against 50% of taxpayer's income tax liability in a given year to reduce or eliminate Georgia income tax liability. Unused credits can be carried forward 10 years. These credits can be combined with other tax credits.
For additional info: click here.
Child Care Tax Credits
Child care credits range from 100 percent to 75 percent of costs. Employers who purchase or build qualified child care facilities are eligible to receive Georgia income tax credits equal to 100 percent of the cost of construction. Employers who provide or sponsor child care for employees are eligible for a credit against Georgia income tax equal to 75 percent of employers' direct costs. The credits are available to all businesses in the state. The child care program must be licensed by the state.
For additional info: click here.
Research & Development Tax Credit
The R&D tax credit equals up to 10 percent of the additional R&D expense over a base amount. The base is computed from the previous three years' taxable income and research expenses. R&D tax credits are available to a business engaged in one of the categories to which the jobs tax credit is available (manufacturing, telecommunications, etc. Taxpayer must have positive net income for the previous three years. Taxpayer must qualify for a research credit under Section 41 of the 1986 IRS code to be eligible for the Georgia credit.
R&D tax credits can be used against 50 percent of the remaining income tax liability after all other credits have been applied in a given year. Unused R&D tax credits may be carried forward 10 years. These credits can be added to other tax credits.
For additional info: click here.
Headquarters Tax Credit
Companies establishing or relocating their North American or International corporate headquarters in a Georgia community are eligible to receive an income tax credit of $5,000 per job per year for five years if the new jobs pay twice the county average wage rate.
For more info: click here.
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