O.C.G.A. § 48-7-40.24 (2019)

(a) As used in this Code section, the term:

(.1) “Affiliate” means the members of a business enterprise’s affiliated group within the meaning of Section 1504(a) of the Internal Revenue Code and also means any entity, notwithstanding its form of organization, that would otherwise qualify as a member of such affiliated group.

(1) “Business enterprise” or “taxpayer” means any enterprise or organization, whether corporation, partnership, limited liability company, proprietorship, association, trust, business trust, real estate trust, or other form of organization, and its affiliates, which are registered and authorized to use the federal employment verification system known as “E-Verify” or any successor federal employment verification system and are engaged in or carrying on any business activities within this state, except that such term shall not include retail businesses.

(2) “Eligible full-time employee” means an individual holding a full-time employee job created by a qualified project who:

(A) Possesses a valid Georgia driver’s license or identification card issued by the Department of Driver Services; or

(B) Submits a notarized affidavit swearing to be a United States citizen or lawfully present alien authorized to work in the United States.

(3) “Force majeure” means any:

(A) Explosions, implosions, fires, conflagrations, accidents, or contamination;

(B) Unusual and unforeseeable weather conditions such as floods, torrential rain, hail, tornadoes, hurricanes, lightning, or other natural calamities or acts of God;

(C) Acts of war (whether or not declared), carnage, blockade, or embargo;

(D) Acts of public enemy, acts or threats of terrorism or threats from terrorists, riot, public disorder, or violent demonstrations;

(E) Strikes or other labor disturbances;

(F) Expropriation, requisition, confiscation, impoundment, seizure, nationalization, or compulsory acquisition of the site or sites of a qualified project or any part thereof; or

(G) Pandemic which is an outbreak of a disease that occurs over a wide geographic area, affects a significant proportion of the population, causes a substantial and unforeseeable threat to the public health, and materially impacts the ability to conduct business, provided that this subparagraph shall only apply with respect to a qualified project first certified pursuant to paragraph (2) of subsection (b) of this Code section on or after July 1, 2023; but such term shall not include any event or circumstance that could have been prevented, overcome, or remedied in whole or in part by the taxpayer through the exercise of reasonable diligence and due care, nor shall such term include the unavailability of funds.

(4)(A) “Full-time employee job” and “full-time job” mean employment of an individual which:

(i) Is located in this state at the site or sites of a qualified project or the facility or facilities resulting therefrom;

(ii) Involves a regular work week of 35 hours or more;

(iii) Has no predetermined end date; and

(iv) Pays at or above the average wage of the county with the lowest average wage in the state, as reported in the most recently available annual issue of the Georgia Employment and Wages Averages Report of the Department of Labor.

(B) For purposes of this paragraph:

(i) Leased employees shall be considered employees of the company using their services and such persons may be counted in determining the company’s job tax credits under this Code section if their employment otherwise satisfies subparagraph (A) of this paragraph;

(ii) An individual’s employment shall not be deemed to have a predetermined end date solely by virtue of a mandatory retirement age set forth in a company policy of general application. The employment of any individual in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity, within the meaning of Section 13 of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, 29 U.S.C. Section 213(a)(1), as such act existed on January 1, 2002, shall not be deemed to have a predetermined end date solely by virtue of the fact that such employment is pursuant to a fixed-term contract, provided that such contract is for a term of not less than one year; and

(iii) When there is a merger or acquisition of another company by a business enterprise whose application for a qualified project has been approved, the existing jobs in this state shall not be counted in calculating the job creation requirement and the credit calculation necessary to qualify for the tax credit under this Code section. Only additional jobs added in this state that meet the requirements of this Code section shall be counted for purposes of calculating the job creation requirement and the credit calculation.

(5) “Job creation requirement” means the requirement that no later than the close of the sixth taxable year following the withholding start date, the business enterprise will have a minimum of 1,800 eligible full-time employees. If at the close of the sixth taxable year following the withholding start date a minimum of $600 million in qualified investment property has been purchased or acquired by the business enterprise to be used with respect to a qualified project, the job creation requirement shall be extended for an additional two-year period. If at the close of the eighth taxable year following the withholding start date a minimum of $800 million in qualified investment property has been purchased or acquired by the business enterprise to be used with respect to a qualified project, the job creation requirement shall be extended for an additional four-year period after the sixth taxable year following the withholding start date.

(6) “Job maintenance requirement” means the requirement that, with respect to each year in the recapture period, the monthly average number of eligible full-time employees employed by the business enterprise, determined as prescribed by subsection (l) of this Code section, must equal or exceed 1,800.

(7) “Payroll maintenance requirement” means the requirement that, with respect to each year in the recapture period, the total annual Georgia W-2 reported payroll with respect to a qualified project must equal or exceed $150 million.

(8) “Payroll requirement” means the requirement that no later than the close of the sixth taxable year following the withholding start date, the business enterprise will have a minimum of $150 million in total annual Georgia W-2 reported payroll with respect to a qualified project.

(9) “Qualified investment property” means all real and personal property purchased or acquired by a taxpayer for use in a qualified project, including, but not limited to, amounts expended on land acquisition, improvements, buildings, building improvements, and any personal property to be used in the facility or facilities.

(10) “Qualified investment property requirement” means the requirement that by the close of the sixth taxable year following the withholding start date, a minimum of $450 million in qualified investment property will have been purchased or acquired by the business enterprise to be used with respect to a qualified project.

(11) “Qualified project” means a project which meets the job creation requirement and either the payroll requirement or qualified investment property requirement. If the taxpayer selects the qualified investment property requirement as one of the conditions for its project, the property shall involve the construction of one or more new facilities in this state or the expansion of one or more existing facilities in this state. For purposes of this paragraph, the term “facilities” means all facilities comprising a single project, including noncontiguous parcels of land, improvements to such land, buildings, building improvements, and any personal property that is used in the facility or facilities.

(12) “Recapture period” means the period of five consecutive taxable years that commences after the first taxable year in which a business enterprise has satisfied the job creation requirement and either the payroll requirement or the qualified investment property requirement, as selected by the taxpayer.

(13) “Withholding start date” means the date on which the business enterprise begins to withhold Georgia income tax from the wages of its employees located at the site or sites of a qualified project.

(b) A business enterprise that is planning a qualified project shall be allowed to take the job tax credit provided by this Code section under the following conditions:

(1) An application is filed with the commissioner that:

(A) Describes the qualified project to be undertaken by the business enterprise, including when such project will commence and the expected withholding start date;

(B) Certifies that such project will meet the job creation requirement and either the payroll requirement or the qualified investment property requirement prescribed by this Code section; and

(C) Certifies that during the recapture period applicable to such project the business enterprise will meet the job maintenance requirement and, if applicable, the payroll maintenance requirement prescribed by this Code section;

(2) Following the commissioner’s referral of the application to a panel composed of the commissioner of community affairs, the commissioner of economic development, and the director of the Office of Planning and Budget, the panel, after reviewing the application, certifies that the new or expanded facility or facilities will have a significant beneficial economic effect on the region for which they are planned. The panel shall make its determination within 30 days after receipt from the commissioner of the taxpayer’s application and any necessary supporting documentation. Although the panel’s certifica392 tion may be based upon other criteria, a project that meets the minimum job creation requirement and either the payroll requirement or qualified investment property requirement, as applicable, specified in paragraph (1) of this subsection will have a significant beneficial economic effect on the region for which it is planned if one of the following additional criteria is met:

(A) The project will create new full-time employee jobs with average wages that are, as determined by the Department of Labor, for all jobs for the county in question:

(i) Twenty percent above such average wage for projects located in tier 1 counties;

(ii) Ten percent above such average wage for projects located in tier 2 counties; or

(iii) Five percent above such average wage for projects located in tier 3 or tier 4 counties; or

(B) The project demonstrates high growth potential based upon the prior year’s Georgia net taxable income growth of over 20 percent from the previous year, if the taxpayer’s Georgia net taxable income in each of the two preceding years also grew by 20 percent or more.

(c) Any lease for a period of five years or longer of any real or personal property used in a new or expanded facility or facilities which would otherwise constitute qualified investment property shall be treated as the purchase or acquisition thereof by the lessee. The taxpayer may treat the full value of the leased property as qualified investment property in the year in which the lease becomes binding on the lessor and the taxpayer.

(d) A business enterprise whose application is approved shall be allowed a tax credit for taxes imposed under this article equal to $5,250.00 annually per new eligible full-time employee job for five years beginning with the year in which such job is created through year five after such creation; provided, however, that, where the amount of such credit exceeds a business enterprise’s liability for such taxes in a taxable year, the excess may be taken as a credit against such business enterprise’s quarterly or monthly payment under Code Section