Tax credits for qualified employers; conditions and limitations to credit; requirements for being qualified employer.

(c) The credit allowed under subsection (b) of this Code section shall be subject to the following conditions and limitations:

(1) (A) Any credit claimed under this Code section but not used in any taxable year may be carried forward for ten years from the close of the taxable year in which the credit was first claimed.

(B) The credit established by this Code section taken in any one taxable year shall be limited to an amount not greater than 50 percent of the qualified employer’s state income tax liability which is attributable to income derived from operations in this state for that taxable year.

(C) The sale, merger, acquisition, or bankruptcy of any qualified employer shall not create new eligibility in any succeeding qualified employer, but any unused credit may be transferred and continued by any transferee of such qualified employer.

(2) (A) The utilization of such credit shall not affect the qualified employer’s ability to claim depreciation for tax purposes on the assets acquired by such qualified employer.

(B) Such credit shall not have any effect on the qualified employer’s basis in such assets for the purpose of depreciation.

(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter to the contrary, a qualified employer is authorized to claim on a tax return for a given project both the credit provided for in this Code section and the credit provided for in Code Section 48-7-40.2.

(d) (1) When the amount of the credit granted under subsection (b) of this Code section exceeds 50 percent of the qualified employer’s liability for taxes imposed under this article in a taxable year, such qualified employer may take the excess as a credit against such qualified employer’s quarterly or monthly payments under Code Section 48-7-103.

(2) Each employee whose qualified employer receives credit against such qualified employer’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 this subsection.

(3) Credits against quarterly or monthly payments under Code Section 48-7-103 and credits against income tax liability under Code Section 48-7-20 established by this subsection shall not constitute income to the qualified employer or the employee.

(e) A qualified employer that fails to purchase or acquire $20 million of qualified investment property for use in this state between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2020, or fails to create 25 new full-time employee jobs in this state between January 1, 2018, and January 1, 2020, shall not be a qualified employer and any tax imposed by this article upon such taxpayer shall be increased by any reduction in tax allowed to such taxpayer pursuant to the application of this Code section.

(f) After December 31, 2023, this Code section shall stand repealed in its entirety by operation of law. History. Code 1981, § 48-7-40.35, enacted by Ga. L. 2018, p. 944, § 3/HB 735; Ga. L. 2019, p. 1056, § 48/SB 52; Ga. L. 2020, p. 493, § 48/SB 429. The 2019 amendment, effective May 12, 2019, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, revised capitalization in paragraphs (c)(3), (d)(1), (d)(2), and (d)(3). The 2020 amendment, effective July 29, 2020, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, revised capitalization in paragraph (d)(1). Editor’s notes. Ga. L. 2018, p. 944, § 5(b)/HB 735, not codified by the General Assembly, provides, in part, that the enactment of this Code section by that Act “shall be applicable to taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2018, and ending on or before December 31, 2023.”