HB8: HB8 Income tax credit; certain investments in qualified businesses; renew and revise

Georgia previously offered a 35 percent income tax credit to accredited investors who put money into small, early-stage Georgia companies (O.C.G.A. § 48-7-40.30), but that program only covered investments made through the 2018 calendar year and has since expired. House Bill 8 rewrites this Code section to bring the credit back and change how it works. The bill removes the requirement that only a 'qualified investor' (an SEC-defined accredited investor) can claim the credit, opening it to any Georgia resident or taxpayer who invests in a qualifying business. It removes the old $50,000 per-person annual cap, keeps the statewide $5 million annual cap on total credits, and for the first time lets an investor sell or transfer earned but unused credits to another Georgia taxpayer rather than only passing them to family. The revised credit program would sunset on December 31, 2031, and the changes take effect July 1, 2025, applying to taxable years beginning on or after that date.

• Renews the expired angel investor tax credit under O.C.G.A. § 48-7-40.30, which previously only covered investments made through the 2018 calendar year.
• Removes the requirement that only an SEC-defined 'accredited investor' can claim the credit, replacing 'qualified investor' with the broader term 'investor' open to any Georgia taxpayer.
• Eliminates the $50,000 per-individual annual cap on the amount of credit a single investor could claim.
• Allows an investor who has earned but not yet used the tax credit to sell or transfer it, in whole or in part, to another Georgia taxpayer, not just to heirs or a spouse.
• Sets the credit program to expire on December 31, 2031 instead of leaving it lapsed as under prior law.
• Keeps the commissioner's existing requirement to report annually to the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee on registered qualified businesses and credit usage.

Individual investors who put money into small Georgia startups, the small businesses themselves that seek this early-stage investment, pass-through entities like partnerships and LLCs used for investing, and the Georgia Department of Revenue, which administers and reports on the credit.

Because the credit had expired after 2018, no new investments have qualified for it in recent years. Reviving and broadening it to any investor, not just accredited ones, and letting credits be sold could make it easier for Georgians to invest in and profit from small, early-stage businesses statewide.

• Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 48-7-40.30, replacing the defined term 'qualified investor' with 'investor,' removing the accredited-investor and SEC-related requirements.
• Subsection (f) removes the $50,000 aggregate annual cap per individual and adds a new provision letting earned, unused credits be sold or transferred to another Georgia taxpayer.
• Subsection (i) keeps the statewide aggregate cap on tax credits at $5 million per calendar year, with tentative approval and pro rata allocation if applications exceed that cap.
• Subsection (j) retains the requirement that the commissioner report annually to the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee on credit usage.
• Subsection (l) sets a new sunset date, repealing the credit program on December 31, 2031.
• Section 2 makes the Act effective July 1, 2025, applying to taxable years beginning on or after that date.

1. 2025-01-15House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-01-14House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-01-13House Hopper (House)

• Dar'shun Kendrick (D, HD-095)Primary sponsor

• income tax credits
• small business investment
• angel investors
• startup funding
• Georgia tax law