OFFICIAL CODE OF
TITLE 48. REVENUE
AND TAXATION
CHAPTER 7 INCOME TAXES
ARTICLE 2. IMPOSITION, RATE, AND COMPUTATION; EXEMPTIONS
O.C.G.A. § 48-7-29.14 (2008)
§ 48-7-29.14. Income tax
credit for clean energy property
(a) As used in this Code
section, the term:
(1) "Authority" means the Georgia
Environmental Facilities Authority.
(2) "Business property" means tangible
personal property that is used by the taxpayer in connection with a business or
for the production of income and is capitalized by the taxpayer for federal
income tax purposes. The term does not include, however, a luxury passenger
automobile taxable under Section 4001
of the Internal Revenue Code or a watercraft used principally for
entertainment and pleasure outings for which no admission is charged.
(3) "Clean energy property" includes any of
the following:
(A) Solar energy equipment that uses solar
radiation as a substitute for traditional energy for water heating, active
space heating and cooling, passive heating, daylighting, generating
electricity, distillation, desalinization, or the production of industrial or
commercial process heat, as well as related devices necessary for collecting,
storing, exchanging, conditioning, or converting solar energy to other useful
forms of energy;
(B) Energy Star certified geothermal
heat pump systems;
(C) Energy efficient projects as
follows:
(i) Lighting
retrofit projects. "Lighting retrofit project" means a lighting
retrofit system that employs dual switching (ability to switch roughly half the
lights off and still have fairly uniform light distribution), delamping, daylighting, relamping,
or other controls or processes which reduce annual energy and power consumption
by 30 percent compared to the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and
Air Conditioning Engineers 2004 standard (ASHRAE 90.1.2004); and
(ii) Energy efficient
buildings. "Energy efficient building" means for other than
single-family residential property new or retrofitted buildings that are
designed, constructed, and certified to exceed the standards set forth in the
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers 2004
standard (ASHRAE 90.1.2004) by 30 percent;
(D) Wind equipment required to capture
and convert wind energy into electricity or mechanical power as well as related
devices that may be required for converting, conditioning, and storing the
electricity produced by wind equipment; and
(E) Biomass equipment to convert wood residuals into electricity
through gasification and pyrolysis.
(4) "Cost" means:
(A) In the case of clean energy
property owned by the taxpayer, cost is the aggregate funds actually invested
and expended by a taxpayer to put into service the clean energy property; and
(B) In the case of clean energy
property the taxpayer leases from another, cost is eight times the net annual
rental rate, which is the annual rental rate paid by the taxpayer less any
annual rental rate received by the taxpayer from subrentals.
(5) "Installation" means the year in which the
clean energy property is put into service and becomes eligible for a tax credit
allowed by this Code section.
(6) "Renewable biomass qualified facility" means a renewable biomass qualified facility as defined
by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission which facility meets the open loop biomass standards promulgated pursuant
to Section 45 of
the Internal Revenue Code.
(7) "Wood residuals" means wood residuals that
include land-clearing residue, urban wood residue, and pellets and do not
include wood from any
(b) A tax credit under this Code section is subject to the following
limits:
(1) A tax credit is allowed against the tax imposed
under this article to a taxpayer for the construction, purchase, or lease of
clean energy property that is placed into service in this state between July 1,
2008, and December 31, 2012; provided, however, this credit shall be further
subject to the following conditions and limitations:
(A) A credit allowed by this Code
section shall be taken for the taxable year in which the clean energy property
is installed and may be taken against income tax or, if the taxpayer is an
insurance company, against gross premium tax;
(B) A taxpayer that claims a credit
allowed under this subsection shall not be eligible to claim any other credit under
this subsection with respect to the same clean energy property;
(C) A taxpayer may not take the credit
allowed in this subsection for clean energy property the taxpayer leases from
another unless the taxpayer obtains the lessor's
written certification that the lessor will not claim
a credit under this subsection with respect to the same clean energy property;
and
(D) In no event shall the amount of
the tax credits allowed by this Code section for a taxable year exceed the
taxpayer's liability for such taxes. Any unused credit amount shall be allowed
to be carried forward for five years from the close of the taxable year in
which the installment of the clean energy property occurred. No such credit
shall be allowed the taxpayer against prior years' tax liability.
To claim a credit allowed by this paragraph, the taxpayer shall provide any
information required by the authority or department. Every taxpayer claiming a
credit under this Code section shall maintain and make available for inspection
by the authority or department any records that either entity considers
necessary to determine and verify the amount of the credit to which the
taxpayer is entitled. The burden of proving eligibility for a credit and the
amount of the credit rests upon the taxpayer, and no credit may be allowed to a
taxpayer that fails to maintain adequate records or to make them available for
inspection;
(2) A taxpayer who transports or diverts wood residuals
to a renewable biomass qualified
facility shall be allowed a credit against the tax imposed by this article in
an amount not to exceed the actual amount certified by the Georgia Forestry
Commission to the taxpayer. The value of such credit shall be determined on a
per tonnage basis. Such certification shall be based upon vouchers provided to
the taxpayer by the renewable biomass
qualified facility to whom the wood residuals are provided for the purpose of
providing bioelectric power to a third party. The Georgia Forestry Commission
shall calculate and attribute a dollar value to such wood residuals;
(3) In no event shall the total amount of tax credits
allowed by this subsection exceed:
(A) For calendar year 2008,
$2,500,000.00;
(B) For calendar year 2009,
$2,500,000.00;
(C) For calendar year 2010,
$2,500,000.00;
(D) For calendar year 2011,
$2,500,000.00; and
(E) For calendar year 2012,
$2,500,000.00.
(4) (A) A taxpayer seeking to claim any tax credit
provided for under this Code section must submit an application to the
commissioner for tentative approval of such tax credit. The commissioner shall
promulgate the rules and forms on which the application is to be submitted. The
commissioner shall review such application and shall tentatively approve such
application upon determining that it meets the requirements of this Code
section within 60 days after receiving such application.
(B) The commissioner shall allow the
tax credits on a first come, first served basis. In no event shall the
aggregate amount of tax credits approved by the commissioner for all taxpayers
under this Code section in a calendar year exceed the limitations specified in
paragraph (3) of this subsection;
(5) The credit allowed by this subsection shall not
exceed the following amounts:
(A) For all types of clean energy
property placed into service for any purpose other than single family
residential, the credit allowed by this subsection may not exceed the lesser of
35 percent of the cost of the clean energy property described in subparagraphs
(a)(3)(A) through (a)(3)(C) of this Code section or the following credit
amounts for any clean energy property:
(i) A
ceiling of $500,000.00 per installation applies to solar energy equipment for
solar electric (photovoltaic), other solar thermal electric applications, and
active space heating, wind equipment, and biomass equipment as described in subparagraphs (a)(3)(A),
(a)(3)(D), and (a)(3)(E) of this Code section;
(ii) The sum of
$100,000.00 per installation applies to clean energy property related to solar
energy equipment for domestic water heating as described in subparagraph
(a)(3)(A) of this Code section which is certified for performance by the Solar
Rating Certification Corporation, Florida Solar Energy Center, or by a comparable
entity approved by the authority to have met the certification of Solar Rating
Certification Corporation OG-100 or Florida Solar Energy Center-GO-80 for solar
thermal collectors;
(iii) For Energy
Star certified geothermal heat pump systems as described in subparagraph
(a)(3)(B) of this Code section, the sum of $100,000.00;
(iv) For a lighting
retrofit project as described in division (a)(3)(C)(i)
of this Code section, the sum of $0.60 per square foot of the building with a
maximum of $100,000.00; and
(v) For an energy
efficient building as described in division (a)(3)(C)(ii) of this Code section,
the sum of the cost of energy efficient products installed during construction
at $1.80 per square foot of the building, with a maximum of $100,000.00; and
(B) The following ceilings apply to
clean energy property placed in service for single family residential purposes,
the lesser of 35 percent of the cost or:
(i) The
sum of $2,500.00 per dwelling unit applies for clean energy property related to
solar energy equipment for domestic water heating as described in subparagraph
(a)(3)(A) of this Code section which is certified for performance by the Solar
Rating Certification Corporation, Florida Solar Energy Center, or by a
comparable entity approved by the authority to have met the certification of
Solar Rating Certification Corporation OG-100 or Florida Solar Energy
Center-GO-80 for solar thermal collectors, Solar Rating Certification
Corporation certification OG-300 or Florida Solar Energy Center-GP-5-80 for
solar thermal residential systems, or both;
(ii) The sum of
$10,500.00 per dwelling unit applies for clean energy property related to solar
energy equipment for solar electric (photovoltaic), other solar thermal
electric applications, and active space heating as described in subparagraph
(a)(3)(A) of this Code section, or to wind as described in subparagraph
(a)(3)(B) of this Code section; and
(iii) The sum of
$2,000.00 per installation for Energy Star certified geothermal heat pump
systems applies as described in subparagraph (a)(3)(B) of this Code section;
and
(6) (A) Where the amount of any credits allowed by this
Code section except for the credit under paragraph (2) of subsection (b) of
this Code section exceeds the taxpayer's liability for such taxes in a taxable
year, the excess may be taken as a credit against such taxpayer's quarterly or
monthly payment under Code Section
48-7-103. Each employee whose employer receives credit against such
taxpayer's quarterly or monthly payment under Code Section
48-7-103 shall receive credit against his or her income tax
liability under Code Section
48-7-20 for the corresponding taxable year for the full amount which
would be credited against such liability prior to the application of the credit
provided for in this subsection. Credits against quarterly or monthly payments
under Code Section
48-7-103 and credits against liability under Code Section
48-7-20 established by this subsection shall not constitute income
to the taxpayer.
(B) In no event shall the total amount
of the tax credit under paragraph (2) of subsection (b) of this Code section
for a taxable year exceed the taxpayer's income tax liability. Any unused tax
credit shall be allowed the taxpayer against succeeding years' tax liability.
No such credit shall be allowed the taxpayer against prior years' tax
liability.
(c) The authority and department shall be authorized to adopt rules and
regulations to provide for the administration of any tax credit provided by
this Code section. Specifically, the authority and department shall create a
mechanism to track and report the status and availability of credits for the
public to review at a minimum on a quarterly basis.
(d) The authority and the department shall provide an annual report of:
(1) The number of taxpayers that claimed the credits
allowed in this Code section;
(2) The cost of business property and clean energy
property with respect to which credits were claimed;
(3) The type of clean energy property installed and the
location;
(4) A determination of associated energy and economic
benefits to the state; and
(5) The total amount of credits allowed.