On July 18th, the state Senate held a study committee hearing directed at analyzing special tax exemptions in Georgia. This special study committee was created in the 2017 legislative session, in part as a reaction to the multiple tax incentives/credits that have been pursued in previous years. During this first hearing, the committee heard broad overview of tax credit analysis from the Commissioner of the Department of Revenue, a representative from the Pew Charitable Trust Foundation (which encourages all states to review tax incentive effectiveness), and a professor on state and local finance from Georgia State University.
During the hearing, avenues utilized in other states to evaluate tax incentive effectiveness were adopted to weigh the tangible and intangible returns to the state, as well as highlight incentives and special exemptions that create visible results (such as the film tax credit). This will be a large undertaking; the chairman for this study committee, Sen. John Albers (R-Roswell) shared that he views the committee’s focus as a multiyear effort, with the intent to have a long dissection of the various special tax incentives the state has provided. These hearings will be monitored closely to ensure that they do not touch the credit union industry, a point that is heightened as the for-profit financial sector has a related tax credit on the consideration list. Stay tuned!
