State Tax Laws > Property Taxes > Summary > Georgia
For the complete text of Georgia statutes and other property tax information please refer to the Georgia Department of Revenue Property Tax Division.
Property Classification: (Reg. Sec. 560-11-2-.20)
For purposes of classification Georgia statutes break down property into 10 classes:
| Residential |
| Residential transitional |
| Agricultural |
| Preferential |
| Conservation use |
| Environmentally sensitive |
| Commercial |
| Historic |
| Industrial |
| Utility |
Conservation use - Conservation use classification applies to all land and improvements primarily used in the good faith production of agricultural products or timber and receiving current use assessment under Sec. 48-5-7.4, Code (Reg. Sec. 560-11-2-.20). Effective May 14, 2002, and applicable to all tax years beginning after 2001, the use of conservation use property for hunting purposes is a qualifying use of the property. Previously, only the lease of hunting rights was a qualified use.
Environmentally sensitive - This classification applies to all land certified as environmentally sensitive property by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and receiving current use assessment under Sec. 48-5-7.4, Code (Reg. Sec. 560-11-2-.20).
Tangible real property that qualifies as "bona fide conservation use property" is assessed and taxed at 40% of its current use value. (Sec. 48-5-7, Code)
Basic Formula: Tax Liability = 40% of current use value x Local County Millage Rate
Requirements for Conservation Use Assessment for Agricultural or Timber Land: (Sec. 48-5-7.4, Code).
Maximum of 2,000 acres: A single land owner may not have an interest in more than 2,000 acres of tangible real property that is placed in the conservation use assessment program. This would apply even when the interest the owner has in the land is less than outright ownership of the property. For example, if four persons jointly own 2,000 acres, none of these four owners are eligible to put additional land in a second covenant.
Property Must Remain Devoted to Qualifying Use: The property must be devoted to farming or commercial production of agricultural products or timber throughout the life of the covenant (10 years). Up to 50% of the land may lie dormant, however, the unused portion may not be used for any other business use. If the use of the property is changed from agricultural to timber production or visa versa, the owner must notify the county board of tax assessors of the change. For more information on the assessment of timber click here.
Barns and Silos Also Qualify: The value of tangible property permanently affixed to the real property which is used in connection with the owner's production of agricultural products or timber for storage and processing would be included in the conservation use assessment. But the value of any residence located on the property would be excluded.
Owner Must Be Natural or Naturalized Citizens or Family Owner Farm Entity: Property must be owned by one or more natural or naturalized citizens or by an entity comprised of one or more natural or naturalized citizens, or a bona fide nonprofit conservation organization designated under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Eligible Uses of the Property: If qualified the property shall be used for, but not be limited to:
Raising, harvesting, or storing crops:
Feeding, breeding, or managing livestock or poultry;
Producing plants, trees, fowl, or animals; or
Production of aquaculture, horticulture, floriculture,
forestry, dairy, livestock, poultry, and apiarian products.
Requirements for Conservation Use Assessment for Environmentally Sensitive Property: (Sec. 48-5-7.4, Code).
1.Maximum of 2,000 Acres: Not more than 2,000 acres of tangible real property that qualifies as environmentally sensitive property, excluding the value of improvements, of a single owner may receive conservation use assessment. The property must be certified as environmentally sensitive property by the Department of Natural resources and maintained in its natural condition.
2.Owner Must Be a Natural or Naturalized Citizens or a Family Farm Entity: Property must be owned by one or more natural or naturalized citizens or by an entity comprised of one or more natural or naturalized citizens, or a bona fide nonprofit conservation organization designated under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
3.Types of Environmentally Sensitive Property Eligible: Environmentally sensitive property, if qualified, may include:
crests, summits, and ridge tops;
wetland areas as determined by the United States Army Corps of Engineers in accordance with Section 404 of the federal Clean Water Act, as amended, or
wetlands that are shown as such on maps compiled by the Department of Natural Resources of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service;
significant ground-water recharge areas shown as such on maps or data compiled by the Department of Natural Resources;
undeveloped barrier islands or portions of undeveloped barrier islands as provided for in the federal Coastal Barrier Resources Act, as amended;
habitats certified by the Department of Natural Resources that contain endangered or threatened species as listed under the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended; and
river corridors that are within the 100 year flood plain as shown on official maps prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Additional Rules for Conservation Use Property:
When one-half or more of a single tract of real property is used for a qualifying purpose, the entire tract qualifies unless some type of non-agricultural business is being conducted on the portion not be used for the qualifying purpose. The unused portion of the property must be minimally managed so that it does not contribute significantly to erosion or other environmental or conservation problems. The lease of hunting rights is not considered another type of business.
Owners of a tract, lot, or parcel of land that totals less than ten acres will be required by the county tax assessor to submit additional relevant records to prove bona fide conservation use.
Property can not qualify as bona fide conservation use property if leased to a person or entity that would not be entitled to conservation use assessment.
Property can not be denied current use assessment for the reason that no soil map is available for the county in which the property is located. The owner making application will, however, be required to provide the county board of tax assessors with a certified soil survey unless another method is authorized in writing by the board.
Property can not qualify as bona fide conservation use property if it is subject to a restrictive covenant that would prohibit the property from being used for the following purposes:
Raising, harvesting, or storing crops:
Feeding, breeding, or managing livestock or poultry;
Producing plants, trees, fowl, or animals; or
Production of aquaculture, horticulture, floriculture, forestry, dairy, livestock, poultry, and apiarian products.
Once the property has qualified for conservation use assessment and is under a covenant, the owner may change the qualifying use of the property without penalty from one qualifying use to another qualifying use. The owner must give notice to the county board of tax assessors on or before the last day for the filing of a tax return. Changing from one qualifying use to another qualifying use will affect the limitations on valuation increases or decreases as described below.
The current use valuation of any conservation use property may not increase or decrease by more than 3 percent from one year to the next during the covenant period. If the owner changes the qualifying use of any portion of the land, or adds or removes any qualified improvements, then the tax will be recomputed as if the new use of the property or qualified improvements were in place from the first year the covenant was entered.
Valuation and Assessment:
Conservation use property (Reg. Sec. 560-11-6.07)
Current Use Value Formula - The formula used to calculate Current Use Value of Conservation Use Properties is weighted as follows:
Sixty-five percent (65%) is attributable to the capitalization of net income from the property.
For timber land, the income valuation increment of the conservation use valuation is based on the five-year weighted average of per-acre net income from hardwood and softwood harvested in Georgia.
Thirty-five percent (35%) is attributable to values produced by a market study consisting of sales data from arms-length bona fide sales of comparable real property with and for the same existing use.
Annually the Commissioner produces tables and standards of value for "current use valuation" of properties whose qualifying use is as bona fide conservation use properties. These tables serve as the basis upon which current use valuation of such qualified properties shall be calculated for the applicable tax year.
The resulting table of current use land values differs according to the soil productivity with "1" being assigned to the most productive land and "9" being assigned to the least productive land. There are eighteen soil productivity classes:
A1 - A9 is for agricultural land (crop land and pasture land), and
W1 - W9 is for timberland.
Table of Conservation Use Land Values. (560-11-4-.09)
For the purpose of prescribing the current use values for conservation use land, the state shall be divided into the following 9 Conservation Use Valuation Areas (CUVA 1 through CUVA 9) and the following accompanying table of per acre land values shall be applied to each acre of qualified land within the CUVA for each soil productivity classification for timber land (W1 through W9):
NOTE: For the latest Conservation Use Valuation Areas for Timberland pleae refer to the Georgia Department or Revenue at: http://www.etax.dor.ga.gov/ptd/index.shtml
Conservation use area by by county:
CUVA #1 counties: Bartow, Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Floyd, Gordon, Murray, Paulding, Polk, Walker, and Whitfield.
CUVA #2 counties: Barrow, Cherokee, Clarke, Cobb, Dawson, Dekalb, Fannin, Forsyth, Fulton, Gilmer, Gwinnett, Hall, Jackson, Lumpkin, Oconee, Pickens, Towns, Union, Walton, and White.
CUVA #3 counties: Banks, Elbert, Franklin, Habersham, Hart, Lincoln, Madison, Oglethorpe, Rabun, Stephens, and Wilkes.
CUVA #4 counties: Carroll, Chattahoochee, Clayton, Coweta, Douglas, Fayette, Haralson, Harris, Heard, Henry, Lamar, Macon, Marion, Meriwether, Muscogee, Pike, Schley, Spalding, Talbot, Taylor, Troup, and Upson.
CUVA #5 counties: Baldwin, Bibb, Bleckley, Butts, Crawford, Dodge, Greene, Hancock, Houston, Jasper, Johnson, Jones, Laurens, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Newton, Peach, Pulaski, Putnam, Rockdale, Taliaferro, Treutlen, Twiggs, Washington, Wheeler, and Wilkinson.
CUVA #6 counties: Bulloch, Burke, Candler, Columbia, Effingham, Emanuel, Glascock, Jefferson, Jenkins, McDuffie, Richmond, Screven, and Warren.
CUVA #7 counties: Baker, Calhoun, Clay, Decatur, Dougherty, Early, Grady, Lee, Miller, Mitchell, Quitman, Randolph, Seminole, Stewart, Sumter, Terrell, Thomas, and Webster.
CUVA #8 counties: Atkinson, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brooks, Clinch, Coffee, Colquitt, Cook, Crisp, Dooly, Echols, Irwin, Jeff Davis, Lanier, Lowndes, Telfair, Tift, Turner, Wilcox, and Worth.
CUVA #9 counties: Appling, Bacon, Brantley, Bryan, Camden, Charlton, Chatham, Evans, Glynn, Liberty, Long, McIntosh, Pierce, Tattnall, Toombs, Ware, and Wayne.
Severance Tax
Taxable Timber Sales and Harvests (560-11-5-.03)
For ad valorem tax purposes standing timber is taxed only once following its harvest or sale. Standing timber is taxed at 100 percent of its fair market value. It is subject to taxation even if the land underneath is exempt unless taxation has been prohibited by federal law or treaty.
Basic Formula: Tax Liability = 100% FMV x Local County Millage Rate
Standing timber is defined to include softwood and hardwood pulpwood, chip and saw logs, saw timber, poles, posts, and fuel wood. Standing timber does not include orchard trees, ornamental or Christmas trees, by products of harvesting (bark or stumps), and fuel wood harvested by the owner which is used exclusively for heating the owner's home. The "sale" of standing timber as defined by O.C.G.A. 48-5-7.5 is the "arm's length, bona fide sale of standing timber for harvesting separate and apart from the underlying land and shall not include the simultaneous sale of a tract of land and the timber thereon.
Lump-Sum Sale
Where standing timber is sold by timber deed, contract, lease, agreement, or otherwise to be harvested within a three-year period after the date of the sale and for a lump sum price, the standing timber to be harvested within said three-year period shall be assessed for taxation as of the date of the sale. The tax shall be levied based upon the total lump sum price paid by the purchaser in an arm's length bona fide sale.
Owner Harvests:
Where standing timber is harvested by the owner of such timber from his own land, the owner shall, within 45 days after the end of the calendar quarter, file with the board of tax assessors a report form PT-283T of the volumes harvested through the last business day of the calendar quarter.
Ad valorem taxes on owner harvest timber shall be payable to the tax collector or tax commissioner within 45 days after the end of the calendar quarter, based upon the fair market value of the harvested timber which shall be the total dollar values calculated using the average standing timber price schedule specified by Regulation 560-11-5-.05(1).
For the 2005 Tables of Owner Harvest Timber Values click here.
Other Sales and Harvests:
Every sale and every harvest of standing timber occurring on or after January 1, 1992 that has not been previously taxed shall be a taxable event, with the exception of those sales of standing timber not to be harvested within three years. Where standing timber is sold or harvested (excepting only a sale not for harvest within three years) in any manner which is not a reportable taxable event under these Regulations as a lump sum sale, a unit price sale, or an owner harvest, such timber shall be subject to ad valorem taxation. Any such sale or harvest shall be reported and taxed under whichever provisions of this Regulation is most nearly applicable.
(a) Where, at the time of harvest, the standing timber owner does not own the underlying land and has not acquired such timber under a taxable lump sum or unit price sale, as would be the case where timber has been acquired prior to January 1, 1992, the harvest of such timber shall be a taxable event and shall be treated as an owner harvest, with the exception that the reporting requirement and the payment of taxes due shall be the responsibility of the owner of the standing timber instead of the underlying landowner.