Section 5. Regulation of Unauthorized Insurers, 33-5-1 through 33-5-59.
ARTICLE 2
SURPLUS LINE INSURANCE
33-5-31. Payment by broker of tax for privilege of doing business; computation and allocation of tax.
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The surplus line broker shall remit to the Commissioner, on or before the fifteenth day of April, July, October, and January, at the time his or her quarterly affidavit is submitted, as a tax imposed for the privilege of doing business as a surplus line broker in this state, a tax of 4 percent on all premiums paid to the surplus line broker during the preceding quarter, less return premiums and exclusive of sums collected to cover state or federal taxes, on surplus line insurance subject to tax transacted by him or her during the preceding quarter as shown by his or her affidavit filed with the Commissioner.
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If this state participates in a cooperative agreement, compact, or reciprocal agreement with other states pursuant to Code Sections 33-5-40 through 33-5-44 and a surplus line policy covers risks or exposures located or to be performed both in and out of this state, the sum payable shall be computed based on an amount equal to 4 percent of that portion of the gross premiums allocated to this state plus an amount equal to the portion of premiums allocated to other states or territories on the basis of the tax rates and fees applicable to properties, risks, or exposures located or to be performed outside this state.
(Code 1933, § 56-623, enacted by Ga. L. 1960, p. 289, § 1; Ga. L. 1972, p. 1220, § 3; Ga. L. 1974, p. 465, § 3; Ga. L. 1995, p. 1165, § 5; Ga. L. 2011, p. 449, § 4/HB 413; Ga. L. 2012, p. 1117, § 2/SB 385.)
The 2012 amendment,
effective July 1, 2012, inserted "this state participates in a cooperative agreement, compact, or reciprocal agreement with other states pursuant to Code Sections 33-5-40 through 33-5-44 and" at the beginning of subsection (b).
OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
No exemption of coverage for Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority.
- Insurance companies and surplus line brokers who provide insurance coverage for the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority are not exempt from paying tax on the premiums collected for such coverage. 1975 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 75-54.
Credit, not refund, may be granted when policy is cancelled "flat."
- The Insurance Commissioner may not make a lump-sum refund of taxes paid, but he may grant a credit against future taxes due in the event that a surplus line broker has paid the required tax during a preceding quarter and the underlying policy, for which the taxes are due, is subsequently cancelled "flat" as of the date of its inception by mutual agreement of the parties. 1975 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 75-116.
