Georgia Employer's Jobs Tax Credit

Georgia Employer's Jobs Tax Credit

Offers a United States Georgia employment credit rewarding qualifying jobs in eligible sectors with county-based incentive levels.

The Georgia Employer's Jobs Tax Credit (Credit Code 103) is a statutory income tax credit administered by the Georgia Department of Revenue that rewards businesses in eligible sectors for creating new full-time jobs in Georgia. Eligible industries include manufacturing, warehousing and distribution, processing, telecommunications, broadcasting, tourism, research and development, and biomedical manufacturing; retail qualifies only in the 40 least-developed counties. To count as a qualifying new job, the position must be Georgia-based, at least 30 hours per week, a genuinely new position rather than a transferred or reclassified role, and must pay above the state's lowest county average wage while also providing health insurance coverage.

The per-job credit amount is determined by the annual economic-development tier of the county in which the jobs are created, with Georgia's 159 counties re-ranked by the Department of Community Affairs each year. Tier 1 counties (ranks 1–71, the most economically distressed) yield $3,500 per qualifying job per year with a minimum threshold of just two new jobs; Tier 2 counties (ranks 72–106) yield $2,500 per job with a ten-job minimum; Tier 3 counties (ranks 107–141) yield $1,250 per job with a fifteen-job minimum; and Tier 4 counties (ranks 142–159) yield $750 per job requiring at least 25 new jobs. Credits in Tier 1 and Tier 2 counties can offset 100% of Georgia income tax liability, while Tier 3 and Tier 4 credits are capped at 50%. Credits can also be applied against Georgia withholding tax using Form IT-WH.

For credits arising from January 2025 onward, the carryforward period is five years; credits generated before that date carried forward ten years. There is no competitive application or agency review — the credit is claimed on the annual Georgia income tax return using Form IT-CA. Businesses with first Georgia withholding obligations in 2017 or later have a two-year window to create the qualifying jobs, compared to the standard one-year window. Companies expanding or relocating to Georgia should map planned hiring locations against the current tier map before finalising site selection, as a Tier 1 location can yield more than four times the annual credit per job compared to Tier 4.