Incentives

Low taxes and a lower cost of living enable you to do more with the money you make and maintain a higher standard of living. The staff of the Dalton–Whitfield County Joint Development Authority is eager to discuss business costs and incentives with site selectors as well as expanding industries and demonstrate why Dalton is the better place for you to do business.

Our staff will work diligently with the appropriate professionals to identify state, local and utility incentive packages that make doing business here a pleasure and gives your company a distinct advantage. For more information on the state of Georgia incentives, please refer to the most recent Georgia Tax Incentives Brochure.

Job Tax Credits

This program provides for a statewide job tax credit for any business or headquarters of any such business engaged in manufacturing, warehousing and distribution, processing, telecommunications, broadcasting, tourism, or research and development industries, but does not include retail businesses. The credit may be claimed for eligible new full-time, permanent jobs (a full-time job is defined as 35 hours or more per week).

To qualify for Job Tax Credits, 10 new jobs must be created and credit amount per eligible new job is $1,750. 

Example : Taxpayer creates 50 jobs in a Tier 3 county offering a $3,500 credit, receives $875,000 in tax credits over five years to reduce or eliminate Georgia income tax [50 jobs x $3,500 x 5 years = $875,000]. 

Investment Tax Credits

The Investment Tax Credit allows a company that has operated an existing manufacturing or telecommunications facility, or a manufacturing or telecommunications support facility, in the state for the previous three years (36 months) to obtain a credit against income tax liability. The credit is available in reference to expenses directly related to manufacturing or providing telecommunications services. Companies expanding must invest $50,000 to receive a 1 percent tax credit. That credit increases to 3 percent for recycling, pollution control, and defense conversion activities.

Generally, a taxpayer may not take both the job tax credit and the investment tax credit for the same project.

Quick Start

Maintaining an adept workforce is imperative for keeping your business successful in today’s ever-changing competitive environments. You can nurture your personnel and empower your workforce by capitalizing on the tools and resources available in Georgia.

You can accelerate employee training and lower expenses by utilizing the customized job-specific training and orientation of Georgia’s nationally recognized Quick Start program. The program, administered by the Technical College System of Georgia, provides flexible, customized workforce training free-of-charge to qualified businesses in Georgia. Recognized by such publications as Expansion Management and Fortune, Quick Start has offered services ranging from company orientation to advanced manufacturing technology training to productivity enhancement. The program delivers training in classrooms, mobile labs or directly on the plant floor, wherever it works best for a company.

On the Job Training (OJT)

The Georgia On the Job Training program reimburses employers for costs associated with training new employees. Funds are available to help employers hire and train a screened applicant through the Georgia Department of Labor. Employers use their own system to teach trainees the new skills necessary for successful permanent employment within their company. The training period can last up to 499 hours and 50% of trainee's wages are reimbursed for the training period. No temporary or seasonal work is allowed and jobs and wages must meet program standards.  This program allows dislocated workers to get trained in a skill that employers need while the Department of Labor pays for part of the wages.

Utilities

Exemption of sales tax on energy in the manufacturing process, made possible by Georgia HB 386. 

Single Factor Gross Receipts

Georgia offers a true “Single Factor Gross Receipts” apportionment formula for corporate income. The “Single Factor Gross Receipts” formula treats a company’s Gross Receipts, or sales factor, as the only relevant factor in determining the portion of that company’s income that is subject to Georgia corporate income tax of 6 percent. If the company does not sell any product in Georgia, then there will not be any corporate income tax liability.

Freeport Tax Exemptions

Sales and Use tax exemptions are available for a wide range of industries. Dalton exempts 20 percent of manufacturer’s inventory under the local option Freeport law. Whitfield County exempts 100 percent of manufacturer's inventory. 

Bond for title transactions

The Dalton-Whitfield County Joint Development Authority is authorized to issue tax abatements for projects that meet state and federal laws. This provides the user with a negotiated investment payment in lieu of taxes for personal and real property based on capital investment and job creation of competitive wages.

New Market Tax Credits (NMTC)

The NMTC Program attracts investment capital to communities by permitting individual and corporate investors to receive a tax credit against their Federal income tax return in exchange for making equity investments in specialized financial institutions called Community Development Entities (CDEs). The credit totals 39 percent of the original investment amount and is claimed over a period of seven years (five percent for each of the first three years, and six percent for each of the remaining four years). The investment in the CDE cannot be redeemed before the end of the seven-year period. To preliminarily identify whether a property is eligible, visit the NMTC Mapping Tool.

Tax Allocation District (TAD)

TAD Financing (TAD) has become one of the most effective tools to encourage private investment and the revitalization of blighted properties within the State of Georgia. Tax allocation districts utilize a portion of future real property tax revenues to finance improvements necessary to facilitate new development in designated areas. Incremental increases in real property tax revenues within a specific area, frequently over a term of up to 25 or 30 years, can finance costs related to that development. TAD provides a means to increase investment, expand the economic base, increase employment opportunities and contribute to the redevelopment of blighted and underutilized property. These City of Dalton/Dalton-Whitfield County Joint Development Authority TAD Program Guidelines have been created to provide an understanding of the City and JDA’s policy and requirements for developments seeking to utilize TAD funding.

To identify the incentives that your company may qualify for, please contact Carl Campbell at the Joint Development Authority Office at 706.712.0958 or  campbell@daltonchamber.org.