Quality Jobs Credit
On this page find information and instructions for claiming the Quality Jobs Credit.
- Tax Credit Code: 130
Summary
For tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2009, a taxpayer creating at least 50 “new quality jobs” may be entitled to a credit provided certain conditions are met. A “new quality job” means a job that:
1) Is located in this state; 2) Has a regular work week of 30 hours or more; 3) Is not a job that is or was already located in Georgia regardless of which taxpayer the individual performed services for; 4) which pays at or above 110 percent of the average wage of the county in which it is located; and 5) For a taxpayer that initially claimed the credit in a taxable year beginning before January 1, 2012, the job has no predetermined end date. The credit amount varies depending upon the pay of the new quality jobs. The credit must be claimed within one year instead of the normal three-year statute of limitation period. The taxpayer may claim the credit in years one through five for new quality jobs created in year one and may continue to claim newly created new quality jobs through year seven and claim the credit on each of those new quality jobs for five years. The credit may be used to offset 100 percent of the taxpayer’s Georgia income tax liability in the taxable year. Where the amount of such credit exceeds the taxpayer’s tax liability in a taxable year, the excess may be taken as a credit against such taxpayer’s quarterly or monthly withholding tax.
How to Claim this Credit
To claim the credit against withholding, a taxpayer must file Form IT-WH as provided in Revenue Regulation 560-7-8-.51. For a taxpayer that initially qualifies to claim the credit in a taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2016, the term “taxpayer” means any person required by law to file a return or to pay taxes, except that any taxpayer may elect to consider the jobs within its disregarded entities, as defined in the Internal Revenue Code, for purposes of calculating the number of new quality jobs created by the taxpayer. Such election shall be irrevocable and must be made on the initial qualifying return (on Form IT-QJ) or within one year of the earlier of the date the initial qualifying return was filed or the date such return was due, including extensions. In the event such election is made, such disregarded entities shall not be separately eligible for the credit. Also, if the first date on which the taxpayer, pursuant to the provisions of Code Section 48-7-101, withhold wages for employees in this state occurs in a taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2017, the taxpayer has two years to employ at least 50 persons in new quality jobs in this state instead of the prior one-year period. In 2017, the statute was changed to provide that only a taxpayer that completes the creation of a qualified project in a taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2017 is eligible to begin a subsequent seven-year job creation period. For a taxpayer that initially qualifies to claim the credit in a tax year beginning on or after January 1, 2020, the 50 new quality jobs requirement is reduced if the jobs are located in a rural county as defined in the statute. For taxable years beginning in 2020 and 2021, taxpayers that claimed the quality jobs tax credit in a taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2019 and before December 31, 2019, have the option to utilize the number of new quality jobs that the taxpayer claimed in the taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2019 and before December 31, 2019; or calculate the number of new quality jobs based on the number of new quality jobs created and maintained in that respective tax year. For a taxpayer that initially qualifies to claim the credit in a taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2023, the term “taxpayer” means any person required by law to file a return or to pay taxes, except that any taxpayer may elect to consider the jobs within its disregarded entities, as defined in the Internal Revenue Code, for purposes of calculating the number of new quality jobs created by the taxpayer, and except that organizations exempt from tax pursuant to Code Section 48-7-25 are “taxpayers” only to the extent that a trade or business operated by such organization generates unrelated business income as defined in Section 512 of the Internal Revenue Code. Such taxpayers qualify to claim the credit only for the projects and investments related to such trade or business and can only elect jobs for such trade or business to qualify as new quality jobs.
Forms
IT-WH Notice of Intention to Claim Withholding Benefit
IT-QJ Application for Georgia Quality Jobs Tax Credit