Income-tax subcommittee advances multiple tax measures in voice votes
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Summary
The committee moved several income- and sales-tax measures forward by voice vote, advancing bills that would expand education savings flexibility, exempt certain federal disaster farm payments from state tax, make forestry tax credits transferable, and protect taxpayer phone numbers on property tax rolls.
The Ways & Means income-tax subcommittee on Feb. 25 advanced several bills by voice vote, including measures to change tax treatment for education savings accounts, federal farm-relief payments and forestry-related tax credits, and to remove phone numbers from property tax rolls.
House Bill 962, described by Chairman Martin, would remove a statutory cap on the Georgia Higher Education Savings Plan and let the plan’s board set the limit. Martin said the change would ‘‘trust the board’’ and expand the state tax deduction so it is available ‘‘to all Georgians’’ rather than steering savers toward a single plan. With no questions from committee members, a motion to ‘‘do pass’’ was seconded and carried by unanimous voice vote.
The committee also advanced House Bill 1159, a measure from Leader Gamble to exempt from state income tax payments made through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farmer Bridge Assistance program. Gamble told members the bill now specifically includes specialty crops after USDA’s update and matches eligibility windows to USDA application deadlines. Calvin Sorby of the governor’s office told the panel USDA retains application records and that eligible farmers must have filed in a timely manner to claim the benefit.
Chairman Petrie’s House Bill 1085 — a substitute that would make existing job and investment tax credits for manufacturing transferable and expressly target a broad definition of ‘forestry manufacturing’ — also moved forward after discussion. Petrie emphasized the measure preserves existing tiered job-credit thresholds and creates procedures for transfers or sales of credits; Austin Gibbons of the Georgia Department of Revenue confirmed transfers would use an established IT form/process.
Representative Huddleston’s House Bill 874, a privacy measure to remove phone numbers from tax rolls when those rolls are shared with third parties, also passed the subcommittee after Huddleston said the change aims to reduce nuisance calls and fraud and noted enforcement through state consumer-protection law.
Several other measures were advanced by voice vote, including HR 1178 and HB 1156, which relate to local homestead exemptions and local homeowner incentives by referendum. The committee’s actions were voice votes; exact tallies were not recorded in the hearing transcript.
Next steps: Bills that received do-pass recommendations will move to the full committee or the next stage required by House rules. Several items heard only as first hearings will return for additional testimony and a second hearing.
