Opportunity Zone - Job Tax Credit Advantages

A Tier 1 Job Tax Credit Designation carries dramatic tax advantages. First, the eligible area (called an Opportunity Zone), qualifies for a State of Georgia job tax credit of $3500 per employee for 5 years starting the date of the hire. Second, there are no restrictions on the type of jobs created and the companies that qualify can choose to spread the use of their credits out over a ten year period. Third, only 2 or more jobs need to be created to be eligible and there is no upper Salary limit on eligible jobs.

Most significantly, the company is not required to have positive net income, so if the company's state income tax liability is insufficient to absorb all of the credits, or the company has another source of write-offs, the balance may be taken by retaining employee withholding taxes that would otherwise be paid to the state (again up to $3500 per employee for five years). This allows the credit to be "cashed out" quickly and easily from day 1 of locating in the Opportunity Zone. The amounts retained by the company from employee withholding are exempt by law from Georgia income tax and may not be subject to federal income tax, so the company gets the full value of the credited dollars.