HB932: HB932 Revenue and taxation; tax credits for business enterprises; provide that certain military zones qualify for designation as less developed areas during a limited period of time

Georgia's job tax credit law (O.C.G.A. § 48-7-40.1) lets the state designate certain struggling areas as 'less developed,' which allows businesses there to claim tax credits for creating jobs. Areas can currently qualify based on things like high poverty rates near military bases or adjacent industrial parks. This bill adds a new, temporary category: for 2025 and 2026 only, any census tract in a county that contains a federal military installation with at least 5,000 combined federal or military personnel would qualify for this designation, regardless of poverty rate or industrial park status. The change is made entirely within Section 1, which rewrites subsection (c) of the existing code section to insert this new paragraph (2.2). The bill does not change any of the other existing qualification categories, which remain in place alongside the new temporary military zone rule. Section 2 repeals conflicting laws, a standard closing provision.

• Adds a new temporary category letting any census tract in a county with a federal military installation housing 5,000 or more personnel qualify as a less developed area for tax credit purposes.
• Limits this new military zone qualification to the years 2025 and 2026 only, rather than making it a permanent designation.
• Leaves the state's existing less developed area categories, including those based on poverty rates and job losses, unchanged and still in effect.
• Continues to let job tax credits apply to any lawful business, not just traditional business enterprises, in areas designated as suffering from pervasive poverty.

Businesses and employers located in Georgia counties that host large military installations, county and state economic development officials who approve these area designations, and the commissioners of community affairs and economic development who administer the program.

Businesses in counties near large military bases could become eligible for state job tax credits for 2025 and 2026 even if their area does not otherwise meet the usual poverty or economic distress thresholds, potentially encouraging hiring or investment in those specific communities during that window.

• Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 48-7-40.1(c) by adding new paragraph (2.2), covering any census tract in a county containing a federal military installation with a garrison of at least 5,000 combined personnel.
• The new paragraph (2.2) qualification applies only 'for 2025 and 2026,' making it a temporary rather than permanent designation category.
• The bill retains existing paragraph (2.1), which separately allows census tracts with a military installation of 5,000+ personnel plus a government-owned industrial park to qualify without a time limit.
• The closing paragraph of subsection (c) confirms new designations cannot displace previously designated less developed areas, and job tax credits remain available to any lawful business in pervasive-poverty areas.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws, a standard clause with no substantive effect on its own.

1. 2026-01-13House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-01-12House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-04-04House Hopper (House)

• Steven Sainz (R, HD-180)Primary sponsor
• Bethany Ballard (R, HD-147)
• Josh Bonner (R, HD-073)
• Mark Newton (R, HD-127)
• Buddy DeLoach (R, HD-167)
• Vance Smith (R, HD-138)

• job tax credits
• economic development
• military bases
• business incentives
• less developed areas