Georgia citizens continue to contact their legislators asking about tax relief, particularly property owners. Recently the Georgia Senate passed property tax assessment and appeal reform, but State Sen. Bill Heath (R-Bremen) has gone one step further.
Heath has proposed to eliminate Georgia’s state ad valorem tax. His bill, Senate Resolution 1287, would remove the state quarter mil ad valorem tax on each dollar of assessed property values. The prohibition of the tax begins once state reserve funds reach $500 million.
“Owning your own home is an American Dream, but it is not a dream to be over-taxed. We should do everything we can to relieve taxpayer burdens,” said Heath. “We must get the state out of the ad valorem tax collection business. Local governments should have the ability to manage their taxes at the local level.”
The State of Georgia currently levies an ad valorem tax on all property, and is a component of local property tax bills. The state millage rate is a quarter mil (.25/$1,000 assessed value). Counties argue that the state requires them to do property assessments and to collect ad valorem tax. Heath’s resolution is a major step in allowing local governments to have more control over property taxation. Removing the state ad valorem tax will have no effect on counties, cities and school funding.
Because this measure is a Constitutional Amendment, it will require a two-thirds vote in the Senate and the House before going to the voters for approval on the November 2010 ballot.
Sen. Bill Heath serves as Chairman of the Retirement Committee and Governor Sonny Perdue’s Floor Leader in the Senate. He represents the 31st Senate District which consists of Haralson and Polk counties and portions of Bartow and Paulding counties. He may be reached at 404.651.7738 or by email at billheath@billheath.net.
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Thursday, March 18, 2010
Heath Proposes to Eliminate State Ad Valorem Tax
Dept of Audits Says State Will Gain at Least $355 Million Beginning July 1 if Law Passes
Lawmakers can balance deep cuts to the state by passing House Bill 39, which picks Georgia's cigarette tax up off the bottom of the national ranking and brings the state squarely to the middle.
Raising the tax $1 a pack from 37 cents, even accounting for declining sales, doubles Georgia's tobacco revenue, according to the state's official fiscal note.
"Given Georgia's multi-billion deficit and slashes to vital services such as child protection, public safety, hospitals, and elder servies, this additional revenue is very important," said Sarah Beth Gehl, the Georgia Budget & Policy's tax expert and deputy director.
Bottom line: New revenues should be part of a balanced approach to resolving Georgia's revenue problem.
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Monday, March 15, 2010
Taxpayer Pleads Guilty to Four Counts of Tax Theft
A Georgia Department of Revenue review by the Office of Special Investigations noticed that Steward’s tax return for tax year 2005 contained a higher than normal withholding tax amount on an accompanying W-2 form. Further investigation, including interviews with Steward, revealed that she had filed returns with fabricated W-2’s four separate times, resulting in undeserved tax refunds totaling $13,687.25.
Steward, who is medically disabled, received a 15-year probated sentence. As a special condition of her probation she is to perform 960 hours of community service, repay restitution to the Department of Revenue in the amount of $13,687.25, and pay a $1,000.00 fine. The case was investigated by Special Agent Jim Winn of the DOR. Prosecution of the case was handled by Senior Assistant Attorney General Kim Schwartz of the Office of the Attorney General.
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Friday, March 12, 2010
States may hold onto tax refunds for months
Residents eager to get their state tax refunds may have a long wait this year: The recession has tied up cash and caused officials in half a dozen states to consider freezing refunds, in one case for as long as five months.
States from New York to Hawaii that have been hard-hit by the economic downturn say they have either delayed refunds or are considering doing so because of budget shortfalls.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-03-11-tax-refunds_N.htm?csp=34
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Thursday, March 11, 2010
Sensible Tax Change Would Bring in $450 Million, Avoid Additional Service Cuts
The General Assembly is poised to slash the budget more in light of another month of declining revenues caused by the Great Recession and Georgia's structural deficit.
"This problem is too large to solve with budget cuts alone," said Sarah Beth Gehl, deputy director of the Georgia Budget & Policy Institute. "We should seek a balance of cuts and new revenues through sensible tax changes such as repealing the deduction of state income tax."
One concrete way to bring in $450 million* is to repeal the bizarre state tax deduction, which almost all states do not allow. The deduction not only costs nearly a half-billion dollars, but it unfairly lowers the effective tax rate for taxpayers who itemize.
"This tax change would not affect the vast majority of taxpayers with incomes less than about $50,000, since they do not itemize," said Gehl, "but for those who do, about 15 percent of filers, the average tax increase would be $85. (The total amount will still be deductible on the federal income tax.)
"Another $1 billion cut to state services will have an immediate negative impact on Georgia's economy, as
well as devastating effects on the education and healthcare infrastructure," said Executive Director, Alan Essig. "This sensible tax change should be part of a balanced solution going forward, along with the proposed increase in the cigarette tax."
* $450 million is an estimate calculated by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, March 2010.
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Tuesday, March 9, 2010
To Buy or Not to Buy: Taking Advantage of the Homebuyer's Tax Credit
/PRNewswire/ -- Despite the extension of the 2009 homebuyer's tax credit to April 30, 2010, and low home prices, potential buyers need to carefully examine their finances before taking the plunge.
"Many people are able to benefit from this tax credit, but that does not always mean buying is a good option for them," said Lindsay Alston, a credit counsellor with CESI Debt Solutions. "You have to look closely at your income to see if the numbers work."
A key rule for homebuyers to remember is that your mortgage, including the principal, interest, taxes, association fees and insurance should never exceed 30 percent of your gross income. A debt-to-income ratio higher than 30 percent indicates that at the end of the year, the amount you are spending on homeownership might exceed what you can afford - and ending up in the red will offset the benefit of owning a home.
"It is the buyer's responsibility to understand the full cost of owning a home - which includes maintenance," said Alston. "It means being responsible for replacing the hot water tank when it dies, or fixing the roof in the event of a fallen tree."
A tax advisor can help house hunters understand the benefits of the tax credit. The credit, which offers 10 percent back on a home's purchase price up to $8,000, will be added to a current tax refund or subtracted from money owed back in taxes. For example, if you already owe $500 in 2009 federal taxes and qualify for a $2,000 homebuyer's credit, you will only see an additional $1,500.
"The tax credit is a great incentive for people who are financially in good shape and planning to buy a new home anyway," said Alston. "But if you don't think you can make the numbers work without it, you should probably wait and continue to save, even if it means missing out on the tax credit."
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Telephone/Text Scams on the rise
Tyrone Police Department cautions citizens about divulging personal information.
Several Metro Atlanta agencies, including the Tyrone PD, have received an increasing number of citizen complaints in reference to telephone and/or text messaging scams. Just like on the internet, it is critically important that you do not divulge any personal information over the phone - especially if you did not initiate the phone call.
We took a report at a local business yesterday (Monday March 8, 2010) where persons unknown hijacked their phone system and made over 1400 calls where they impersonated banking institutions in an attempt to retrieve account information from those they called. It is unclear at this time if they were successful as most of the calls were made to numbers outside of our area.
We also received an alert yesterday that several metro agencies have had incidents of text message scams where citizens received a text message stating: "Your card has been deactivated please call [1-800 number]to reactivate your card.”
Upon calling the number, the caller gets a voicemail message that their "accounts have been restricted, please remain on the line to remove the restriction but enter your card number followed by the pound sign, followed by your expiration date.”
If a valid card number is put into the system, it will proceed to ask for social security number for verification and you will never go to a live person.
It is also unclear whether or not this scam has been successful, but out of thousands of calls made there is a good probability for at least some success.
If you receive such a call or message, please do not provide any information. Instead, call or visit your financial instituion to check on your account.
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