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| Georgia General Assembly |
HB123.html
House Bill
123
By: Representatives Heard of the 89th
and Buck of the 135th
A BILL TO BE
ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Title 48 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to revenue and taxation, so as to provide that Georgia
taxable net income of an individual taxpayer shall not include an amount equal
to the amount of the federal Earned Income Credit which the taxpayer has claimed
pursuant to Section 32 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended; to
repeal certain provisions regarding low-income tax credits; to provide an
effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF
GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Title 48 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to revenue and taxation, is amended in subsection (a) of Code Section 48-7-27,
relating to computation of taxable net income of individuals, by striking "and"
at the end of paragraph (9), by striking the period at the end of paragraph (10)
and inserting in its place "; and", and by adding a new paragraph immediately
following paragraph (10) to be designated paragraph (11) to read as
follows:
"(11)
An amount equal to the amount the taxpayer has claimed pursuant to Section 32 of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as
amended."
SECTION 2.
Said title is further amended by striking Chapter 7A,
relating to low-income tax credits, and inserting in its place a new Chapter 7A
to read as follows:
"CHAPTER
7A
RESERVED
48-7A-1.
The
General Assembly finds and determines that all residents of this state make
contributions to the general fund of this state through their payment of the
several state taxes, including, but not limited to, taxes on food and other
items of necessity. The General Assembly further finds and declares that,
because of the overall tax burden and particularly the tax burden on food and
other items of necessity, it is both appropriate and advisable to afford tax
relief to the low-income residents and the working poor. It is not practical,
however, to provide tax relief targeted to these groups through the
implementation of a specific measure of relief addressed to each of the several
state taxes, and therefore it is necessary and proper to utilize the income tax
procedures of this state as the mechanism for providing tax relief to low-income
residents and the working poor with respect to their overall tax burden and
particularly the burden of taxation on food and other items of
necessity.
48-7A-2.
As used in this chapter, the term 'dependent'
means:
(1) The taxpayer;
(2) The spouse of the taxpayer;
and
(3) A natural or legally adopted
child of the
taxpayer.
48-7A-3.
(a)
Except as otherwise provided in subsection (e) of this Code section, each
resident taxpayer who files an individual income tax return for a taxable year
and who is not claimed or is not otherwise eligible to be claimed as a dependent
by another taxpayer for federal or Georgia individual income tax purposes may
claim a tax credit against the resident
taxpayer´s
individual income tax liability for the taxable year for which the individual
income tax return is being filed; provided that:
(1) A husband and wife filing a joint return
shall each be deemed a dependent for purposes of such joint return;
(2) A husband and wife filing separate
returns for a taxable year for which a joint return could have been filed by
them shall claim only the tax credit to which they would have been entitled had
a joint return been filed; and
(3)
A resident individual who has no income or no income taxable under this chapter
and who is not claimed or is not otherwise eligible to be claimed as a dependent
by a taxpayer for federal or Georgia individual income tax purposes may also
claim a tax credit as set forth in this Code section.
(b) Each taxpayer may claim a tax credit in
the amount indicated for each adjusted gross income bracket as shown in the
schedule below multiplied by the number of dependents which the taxpayer is
entitled to claim. Each taxpayer 65 years of age or over may claim double the
tax credit.
TAX CREDIT
SCHEDULE
Adjusted Gross
Income Tax
Credit
Under $6,000.00
$ 26.00
6,000.00 but not
more than 7,999.00 20.00
8,000.00 but not more than
9,999.00 14.00
10,000.00 but not more than
14,999.00 8.00
15,000.00 but not more than
19,999.00 5.00
(c) The tax credit claimed by a resident
taxpayer pursuant to this Code section shall be deductible from the resident
taxpayer´s
individual income tax liability, if any, for the tax year in which it is
properly claimed. In the event the tax credit claimed by a resident taxpayer
exceeds the amount of income tax payment due from the resident taxpayer, the
excess of the credit over payments due shall be refunded to the resident
taxpayer, provided that a tax credit properly claimed by a resident individual
who has no income tax liability shall be paid to the resident individual;
provided, further, that no refunds or payment on account of the tax credit
allowed by this Code section shall be made for amounts less than $1.00.
(d) All claims for a tax credit under this
Code section, including any amended claims, must be filed on or before the end
of the twelfth month following the close of the taxable year for which the
credit may be claimed. Failure to comply with this subsection shall constitute
a waiver of the right to claim the
credit.
(e) Any individual who
receives a food stamp allotment for all or any part of a taxable year shall not
be entitled to claim a credit under this Code section for that taxable
year.
(f) The commissioner shall be
authorized by rule and regulation to provide for the proper administration of
this Code
section."
SECTION 3.
This Act shall become effective January 1, 2002.
SECTION 4.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are
repealed.