TITLE 48 REVENUE AND TAXATION

Section 13. Specific, Business, and Occupation Taxes, 48-13-1 through 48-13-133.

ARTICLE 1 GENERAL PROVISIONS

48-13-5. Definitions.

As used in this article, the term:

1. "Administrative fee" means a component of an occupation tax which approximates the reasonable cost of handling and processing the occupation tax.

   (1.1) (A) Except as otherwise provided in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, "employee" means an individual whose work is performed under the direction and supervision of the employer and whose employer withholds FICA, federal income tax, or state income tax from such individual's compensation or whose employer issues to such individual for purposes of documenting compensation a form I.R.S. W-2 but not a form I.R.S. 1099.

   1. An individual who performs work under the direction and supervision of one business or practitioner in accordance with the terms of a contract or agreement with another business which recruits such individual is an employee of the business or practitioner which issues to such individual for purposes of documenting compensation a form I.R.S. W-2.
2. 1. "Gross receipts" means total revenue of the business or practitioner for the period, including without being limited to the following:
      1. Total income without deduction for the cost of goods sold or expenses incurred;
      2. Gain from trading in stocks, bonds, capital assets, or instruments of indebtedness;
      3. Proceeds from commissions on the sale of property, goods, or services;
      4. Proceeds from fees charged for services rendered; and
      5. Proceeds from rent, interest, royalty, or dividend income.
   2. Gross receipts shall not include the following:
      1. Sales, use, or excise taxes;
      2. Sales returns, allowances, and discounts;
      3. Interorganizational sales or transfers between or among the units of a parent-subsidiary controlled group of corporations, as defined by 26 U.S.C. Section 1563(a)(1), between or among the units of a brother-sister controlled group of corporations, as defined by 26 U.S.C. Section 1563(a)(2), between or among a parent corporation, wholly owned subsidiaries of such parent corporation, and any corporation in which such parent corporation or one or more of its wholly owned subsidiaries owns stock possessing at least 30 percent of the total value of shares of all classes of stock of such partially owned corporation, or between or among wholly owned partnerships or other wholly owned entities;
      4. Payments made to a subcontractor or an independent agent for services which contributed to the gross receipts in issue;
      5. Governmental and foundation grants, charitable contributions, or the interest income derived from such funds, received by a nonprofit organization which employs salaried practitioners otherwise covered by this chapter, if such funds constitute 80 percent or more of the organization's receipts; and
      6. Proceeds from sales of goods or services which are delivered to or received by customers who are outside the state at the time of delivery or receipt.
3. "Location or office" shall include any structure or vehicle where a business, profession, or occupation is conducted, but shall not include a temporary or construction work site which serves a single customer or project or a vehicle used for sales or delivery by a business or practitioner of a profession or occupation which has a location or office. The renter's or lessee's location which is the site of personal property which is rented or leased from another does not constitute a location or office for the personal property's owner, lessor, or the agent of the owner or lessor. The site of real property which is rented or leased to another does not constitute a location or office for the real property's owner, lessor, or the agent of the owner or lessor unless the real property's owner, lessor, or the agent of the owner or lessor, in addition to showing the property to prospective lessees or tenants and performing maintenance or repair of the property, otherwise conducts the business of renting or leasing the real property at such site or otherwise conducts any other business, profession, or occupation at such site.
4. "Occupation tax" means a tax levied on persons, partnerships, corporations, or other entities for engaging in an occupation, profession, or business and enacted by a local government as a revenue-raising ordinance or resolution.
5. "Practitioners of professions and occupations" shall not include a practitioner who is an employee of a business, if the business pays an occupation tax.
6. "Regulatory fees" means payments, whether designated as license fees, permit fees, or by another name, which are required by a local government as an exercise of its police power and as a part of or as an aid to regulation of an occupation, profession, or business. The amount of a regulatory fee shall approximate the reasonable cost of the actual regulatory activity performed by the local government. A regulatory fee may not include an administrative fee or registration fee. No local government is authorized to require any administrative fee, registration fee, or fee by any other name in connection with a regulatory fee, except an occupation tax, as defined in paragraph (4) of this Code section. Regulatory fees do not include development impact fees as defined by paragraph (8) of Code Section 36-71-2 or other costs or conditions of zoning or land development.

(Code 1981, §48-13-5, enacted by Ga. L. 1993, p. 1292, § 7; Ga. L. 1995, p. 419, § 1; Ga. L. 1999, p. 749, § 2; Ga. L. 2003, p. 596, § 1.)