By bbr

ATLANTA (Feb. 19, 2016) — Recently, Georgia’s General Assembly showed overwhelming support for this year’s Conformity Bill (HB 742). House Bill 742 is an annual Internal Revenue Code (IRC) update that incorporates certain provisions of federal law into Georgia law. Both the Georgia House and Senate acted swiftly to pass this key legislation. Currently, this important bill awaits Gov. Nathan Deal’s signature.

“House Bill 742 will greatly impact Georgia’s small business community. As CPAs, this bill will ease the tax burden on small businesses and provide us with certainty when preparing our client’s returns,” said Perry Barnett, CPA, tax partner, Rushton & Company, LLC.

HB 742 permanently increases the Section 179 deduction limit to $500,000 in state revenue code, which offers valuable relief for small businesses including farmers and fishermen.

Farmers and fishermen are required to file their returns and pay their entire tax bill by March 1. Once HB 742 is signed into law by Gov. Deal, farmers and fishermen will then have the ability to accurately calculate their tax liability and file their Georgia income tax return by the deadline.

“I sincerely appreciate our legislators in both the House and Senate supporting the need to get this bill passed into law as quickly as possible. With the March 1 income tax return deadline rapidly approaching, CPAs across the state are anxiously awaiting the governor’s signature,” said GSCPA Past Chair Darrell Thaw, CPA.

Permanent tax provisions such as Section 179 give all small businesses the certainty and ability to do long-range planning.

“As a farmer, I’m proud to be a part of Georgia’s leading industry. In the past, the tax filing process has been difficult for us, so I’m thankful for the changes this bill offers. My hope is that it also serves as a tool to attract new businesses to Georgia,” said Brian Rayburn, a multigenerational Georgia farmer.

About GSCPA

GSCPA is the premier professional organization for CPAs in the state of Georgia. With almost 14,000 members throughout the state, the purpose of GSCPA is to achieve excellence by providing superior advocacy, leadership, service, lifelong learning and personal and professional development opportunities. For more information, access GSCPA’s website at www.gscpa.org.