We Need Your Help!
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When we talk with prospective clients about tax credits, they often ask, "Why hasn't my CPA told me about these tax credits?"
This puts us in an awkward position. We want to do the right thing for the client and respect your client-CPA relationship. So in our responses to the client, we try to emphasize that taxes are very complex, and tax credits are a specialty within the tax area. We further stress that it is hard to keep up with all the regulations for state and federal income taxes.
The funny part is that the CPA may have mentioned tax credits in the past, but the topic was covered along with many other items during client meetings -- so it was ignored or simply forgotten by the client. After all, the CPA has a hard enough time getting the client to provide basic tax information.
Please give us your feedback - how should we reply when the client asks "Why hasn't my CPA told me about these tax credits?" Send us your thoughts here.
We will provide a summary of responses in an upcoming issue of Alpha-Mail. Thanks in advance for your help.
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Quick Update
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We previously mentioned the private school tax credit (HB 1133) and the requirement for a Student Scholarship Organization. To find out more, we talked with Jim Kelly of Georgia GOAL Scholarship Program, Inc. Check out their web site here. They are one of the few Student Scholarship Organizations (SSOs) approved by the State of Georgia. According to Jim, quite a few interested parties, public and private, are closely tracking developments on this new tax credit, so compliance is critical. He cautioned that a private school cannot establish an SSO only for itself, and scholarship funds will be closely monitored by the state. Jim paraphrased one source at the state level in saying "these credits were designed to help people, not to give free rides."
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Summary of 2008 GA Income Tax Legislation
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There were several changes in the state tax credits for 2008. We received a great summary of those changes from Brad Dickson, partner with Tarpley & Underwood, PC (link to their web site here), who was the recent head of the Georgia Society of CPAs tax section:
Highlights of Georgia tax credit legislation -
HB 670 - Clean energy tax credit
HB 851 - Historical site tax credit changes
HB 1100 - Film tax credit changes
HB 1133 - Private school tax credit
HB 1196 - Seed capital fund tax credit
HB 1246 - Business enterprise definitions changed and expanded
HB 1273 - Opportunity zone tax credit changes
HB 1274 - Conservation tax credit changes
The Department of Revenue provides a comprehensive analysis of the changes (income tax changes start on page 3) here.
Some of your clients may have significant new opportunities for tax credits resulting from these changes. Pay special attention to new opportunities for broadcasting and insurance companies. Also, try to identify all of your clients located in Opportunity Zones. Thanks!
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About Us
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Alpharesults has assembled a team with the specialized knowledge and approach required to obtain Georgia income tax credits. We are not a public accounting firm. Rather, our services complement those of public accounting firms and do not create conflicted loyalties, because our professionals do not perform attestation work or other external audit functions.
We focus on small to medium-sized businesses and work exclusively in Georgia with a wide variety of in-state and out-of-state accounting firms. For more information on our services, follow this link.
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