HB144: HB144 Income tax; certain medical preceptor rotations; revise tax credit

Georgia currently gives a tax credit to physicians, advanced practice registered nurses, and physician assistants who provide unpaid hands-on training (called preceptorship rotations) to students, but the credit is set to expire at the end of 2026. This bill rewrites that law under Georgia's income tax code (O.C.G.A. § 48-7-29.22). It adds licensed dentists to the list of eligible community based faculty preceptors and to the students who can be trained. It raises the credit amounts: physicians and dentists would get $500 for each of their first three rotations in a year and $1,000 for each rotation after that, while nurse practitioners and physician assistants would get $375 for the first three and $750 after that. No one can claim credit for more than ten rotations a year, and the total credits paid out statewide cannot exceed $6 million per year. The sunset date, when the credit disappears automatically, moves from December 31, 2026 to December 31, 2030. The changes take effect July 1, 2025, and apply to tax years starting on or after January 1, 2026.

• Adds licensed dentists and dental students to the list of professionals and students eligible for the preceptor tax credit program.
• Raises the per-rotation credit to $500 (first three rotations) and $1,000 (rotations four through ten) for physicians and dentists.
• Sets the credit for advanced practice registered nurses and physician assistants at $375 (first three rotations) and $750 (rotations four through ten).
• Caps the total statewide credits paid out under this program at $6 million in any calendar year.
• Keeps the existing ten-rotation-per-year limit on how much credit any one preceptor can claim.
• Extends the law's automatic expiration (sunset) date from December 31, 2026 to December 31, 2030.

Physicians, licensed dentists, advanced practice registered nurses, and physician assistants who volunteer to train students without pay; medical, dental, nursing, and physician assistant students at Georgia training programs; and the Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program Office at Augusta University, which administers and certifies the program.

Health professionals who take on unpaid student training would receive a bigger tax break, and dentists could now qualify for the first time. Because the state caps total credits at $6 million a year, more available student training slots could depend on how many preceptors apply before that cap is reached.

• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 48-7-29.22 to add 'licensed dentist' to the definition of community based faculty preceptor and adds dentistry training programs approved by the Georgia Board of Dentistry.
• Subsection (b)(2) sets new credit amounts: $500 per rotation (first three) and $1,000 per rotation (fourth through tenth) for physicians and dentists, and $375/$750 for nurse practitioners and physician assistants.
• Subsection (b)(3) caps any individual preceptor's credit at ten preceptorship rotations per calendar year.
• Subsection (b)(4) creates a new statewide aggregate cap of $6 million in tax credits per calendar year.
• Subsection (c)(2) directs the AHEC Program Office at Augusta University to certify rotations for medicine, osteopathic medicine, dentistry, advanced practice nursing, and physician assistant programs.
• Subsection (h) extends the program's repeal date from December 31, 2026 to December 31, 2030.
• Section 2 sets the effective date as July 1, 2025, applicable to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2026.

1. 2025-04-30Effective Date 2025-07-01
2. 2025-04-30Act 24
3. 2025-04-30House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2025-04-07House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2025-03-31Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
6. 2025-03-31Senate Third Read (Senate)
7. 2025-03-31Senate Engrossed (Senate)
8. 2025-03-21Senate Read Second Time (Senate)

• Mark Newton (R, HD-127)Primary sponsor
• Lee Hawkins (R, HD-027)
• Darlene Taylor (R, HD-173)
• Ron Stephens (R, HD-164)
• Anne Westbrook (D, HD-163)
• Edna Jackson (D, HD-165)
• Chuck Hufstetler (R, SD-052)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 4, 2025

   171 yea, 2 nay (4 not voting, 3 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #155

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 31, 2025

   30 yea, 20 nay (5 not voting, 1 absent)

   Motion To Engross: Hb 144, Hb 153, Hb 511: Senate Vote #340

3. PassedSenate voteMarch 31, 2025

   48 yea, 5 nay (1 not voting, 2 absent)

   Passage: Senate Vote #355

• income tax credits
• medical education
• dentistry
• nurse practitioners
• physician assistants