The last of the original thirteen colonies is Georgia, the Peach State. Georgia is also known as the Empire State of the South. The state’s terrain spans coastal beaches, farmland and mountains.
There are also many points of interest that attract visitors to Georgia. In Atlanta, there are the World of Coca-Cola and the Georgia Aquarium. Stone Mountain, just north of Atlanta, is Georgia’s most popular attraction, receiving over 4 million visitors per year. Callaway Gardens, in western Georgia, is a family resort. The area is also popular with golfers.
The Golden Isles are a string of barrier islands off the Atlantic Coast of Georgia near Brunswick that include beaches, golf courses and the Cumberland Island National Seashore.
Sports play a large role in Georgia. In professional sports, the Georgia Dome in Atlanta has hosted a few Superbowls, while also supporting college championships for basketball and football. Georgia has teams in three of the major professional arenas of basketball, football and baseball. The state capital was home to the 1996 Olympic Games. The city of Augusta is known for hosting the Masters golf tournament each year.
Business Climate
Atlanta, the capital of Georgia, is a global city, an important node in the global economic system. It is also home to many large companies. There are 17 Fortune 500 companies and 26 Fortune 1000 companies with headquarters in Georgia, including Home Depot, UPS, Coca-Cola, TSYS, Delta Air Lines, Aflac, Southern Company, Anthem, Inc., and Sun Trust Banks. Georgia is home to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, one of the world’s busiest airports, measured by both aircraft traffic and passenger traffic.
Aside from the metropolitan centers in the state, farms paint the landscape of the southern part of the state. They produce peanuts, corn, and soybeans. Georgia’s agricultural outputs include poultry and eggs, pecans, peaches, cotton, peanuts, rye, cattle, hogs, dairy products, turfgrass, timber (particularly pine trees), tobacco and vegetables.
Major products in the mineral industry include a variety of clays, stones, sands and the clay palygorskite, known as attapulgite.
As noted in the introduction, tourism also plays a role in Georgia’s economy. Tourists are attracted to the rich history of Georgia from its origins as a colony and because of some great leaders who have shaped America today. The final resting places of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King are in Atlanta. The Carter Presidential Center is in Atlanta and his hometown is Plains, Georgia.
Tax Climate
The top individual income tax rate is 5.75% and the top corporate income tax rate is also 5.75%.
Apportionment: Georgia taxpayers apportion income using a single sales factor formula.
Georgia follows market-based sourcing for the receipts of intangibles.
Sales Tax Structure
The state sales tax rate is 4%. However, like many states, Georgia’s counties and cities also add onto the sales tax rate. As such, the rate can be as high as 8.9%. Atlanta’s current combined sales tax rate is 8.5%.
Sellers who lack physical presence in Georgia and have sales into the state that exceed $100,000 or who have more than 200 transactions in the previous or current calendar year must register and remit sales tax to the state. Gross revenue from retail sales of tangible personal property delivered electronically or physically to a location in the state for consumption, use, or storage in the state. Taxable services are not included in the threshold. Exempt sales, except resales, are included but exempt services are not included in the threshold. This legislation went into effect on January 1, 2019.
A marketplace facilitator that makes or facilitates taxable retail sales of $100,000 or more in aggregate in the previous or current calendar year is the retailer for each taxable retail sale it facilitates in Georgia on behalf of a marketplace seller. A franchisor is not considered a facilitator with respect to any dealer that is its franchisee. This legislation went into effect on April 1, 2020.
All digital books, digital audio works and digital audio-visual works are not subject to taxation. Prewritten software which is electronically downloaded is nontaxable. It is taxable if sold in a tangible medium. Custom software is nontaxable, regardless of how transferred to the customer. Software-as-a-Service is exempt from taxation, as are all cloud services. How products are produced, sold and delivered is critical to determining the tax status.
Many states have annual sales tax holidays, during which certain items the state wants to promote the purchase of (like school supplies emergency preparedness supplies, or energy efficient appliances) can be purchased sales tax free. Georgia allows you to purchase the following items tax-free during their annual sales tax holidays: In July: $20 in school supplies, $100 in clothing, and $1,000 in computers for the Back To School sales Tax Holiday. In October: $1,500 in Energy Star/ WaterSense certified efficient products and appliances.
Our team at Miles Consulting Group is always available to discuss the specifics of your state tax situation, whether in Georgia or other states, we can help you navigate the complex tax structures arising from your multistate operations. Call us to help you achieve the best tax efficiencies.
Random Facts
- Georgia is the largest state east of the Mississippi River in land area.
- The main headquarters of The Weather Channel is in Atlanta.
- Georgia is one of the leading states in frequency of tornadoes, though they are rarely stronger than F1.
- With a coastline on the Atlantic Ocean and its proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, the state is vulnerable to hurricanes.
- The port of Savannah is the fourth largest seaport in the United States, importing and exporting a total of 2.3 million TEUs per year. A twenty foot equivalent unit (TEU) is a unit of measure used for capacity in container transportation, as in a container ship.
- Georgia is in the top five blueberry producers in the United States.
- In 1829, gold was discovered in the North Georgia Mountains.
