Current through 2023-2024 Legislative Session Chapters 1-597, 604, 609, 612, 696, 697
Section 48-5-41.1 - Exemption of qualified farm products and harvested agricultural products of family farm entities(a) As used in this Code section, the term:(1) "Agricultural equipment" means farm tractors, combines, and all other farm equipment other than motor vehicles, whether fixed or mobile, which are owned by or held under a lease-purchase agreement and directly used in the production of farm products by a family owned qualified farm products producer.(2) "Family owned farm entity" means an entity that has derived 80 percent or more of its gross income from bona fide agricultural uses within this state within the year immediately preceding the year in which the exemption provided by this Code section is sought and that is organized as:(A) A family corporation, a family partnership, a family general partnership, a family limited partnership, a family limited corporation, or a family limited liability company all of the interest of which is owned by one or more natural or naturalized citizens related to each other within the fourth degree of civil reckoning;(B) An entity created by the merger or consolidation of two or more entities that would qualify independently as a family owned farm entity as defined in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph;(C) An estate of which the devisees or heirs are one or more natural or naturalized citizens related to each other within the fourth degree of civil reckoning;(D) A trust of which the beneficiaries are one or more natural or naturalized citizens related to each other within the fourth degree of civil reckoning.(3) "Family owned qualified farm products producer" means an individual or family owned farm entity primarily engaged in the direct cultivation of the soil, including soil removed from the land and placed in pots or containers, or operation of land for the production of qualified farm products. A family owned qualified farm products producer shall not include wholesalers, distributors, storage facility owners, manufacturers, processors, or other similar entities that primarily prepare qualified farm products for any intermediate or final market or that primarily operate to move or facilitate the movement of qualified farm products from a producer to any intermediate or final markets.(4) "Farm products" means only those farm products eligible to qualify for exemption from ad valorem taxation pursuant to the former provisions of paragraph (10) of subsection (a) of Code Section 48-5-41 as it existed prior to January 1, 1999.(5) "Harvested agricultural products" means only those harvested agricultural products eligible to qualify for exemption from ad valorem taxation pursuant to the former provisions of paragraph (10) of subsection (a) of Code Section 48-5-41 as it existed prior to January 1, 1999.(6) "Initial production" means: (A) When applied to a laying hen, a period beginning at the time the laying hen comes into production at age six months rather than a period beginning when the laying hen is hatched; or(B) When applied to a brood cow, a period of nine months from the time the brood cow is able to conceive at age 12 months rather than a period beginning when the brood cow is born.(7) "Lease-purchase agreement" means a financing agreement under which lessee payments are credited toward the purchase of agricultural equipment or that provides for a fixed amount purchase option to a lessee during the lease term. Under a lease-purchase agreement the title of ownership may remain with the lessor during the lease.(8) "Producer" means any entity that produces farm products.(9) "Qualified farm products" livestock; dairy products; unfertilized eggs of poultry; crops; fruit or nut-bearing trees, bushes, or plants; annual and perennial plants; Christmas trees; and plants and trees grown in nurseries for transplantation elsewhere. Qualified farm products shall not include standing timber.(b) The following property shall be exempt from all ad valorem property taxes in this state: (1) All farm products grown in this state and remaining in the hands of the producer during the one year beginning immediately after their initial production;(2) Harvested agricultural products which have a planting-to-harvest cycle of 12 months or less, which are customarily cured or aged for a period in excess of one year after harvesting and before manufacturing, and which are held in this state for manufacturing and processing purposes;(3) All qualified farm products grown in this state: (A) Remaining in the hands of a family owned qualified farm products producer;(B) Still in their natural and unprocessed condition, unless processed solely for further use in the production of other qualified farm products; and(C) Not held for direct retail sale by someone other than the original family owned qualified farm products producer; and(4) Agricultural equipment.Amended by 2021 Ga. Laws 260,§ 2-1, eff. 1/1/2023.Amended by 2017 Ga. Laws 192,§ 1, eff. 5/8/2017.Amended by 2015 Ga. Laws 153,§ 1, eff. 7/1/2015.Added by 2005 Ga. Laws 26,§ 1, eff. 11/7/2006.Amended by 2001 Ga. Laws 285, § 1, eff. 4/27/2001. See 2005 Ga. Laws 26, § 2.Ga. Laws 260, § 2-1 effective January 1, 2023, because a referendum approving such exemption was approved at the November 8, 2022, general election.