10 days until business license renewal deadline

The deadline for businesses in Decatur to renew their business license for 2015 is January 31. Renewal invoices were mailed in November. You can renew in person at 509 North McDonough Street; by mail to P.O. Box 220, Decatur, GA 30031; or online through www.decaturgatax.com after clicking on Occupation Tax on the left side of the screen.

In addition to payment of the occupational tax, we may need some additional paperwork in order to renew a license. If the business owner is a U.S. citizen and has already filed a SAVE affidavit with Decatur, you are not required to re-file a SAVE affidavit during renewal. If the business has 10 or less employees and has already filed an E-Verify affidavit with Decatur, you are not required to re-file an E-Verify affidavit. Non-citizens need to file SAVE affidavits annually and businesses with over 10 employees need to file E-Verify numbers annually in order to renew their license.

If you received a renewal invoice but your business has moved or closed, please let us know so we can settle and close your account with our office.

Grace period expires for business license fees

City of Decatur business license payments were due by Jan. 31, but the City provided a 90-day grace period before late fees are added.

That grace period expires on April 30, and penalties will be applied against businesses that haven’t paid by the end of this month.

Also due with the payment is an affidavit verifying the business license applicant's legal status in the United States.  This is a new requirement for 2010 under the state law of Georgia.

For more information about business licensing in Decatur, please visit this page of the City’s website.

Georgia tax news roundup

Last night, Georgia Public Broadcasting’s Valerie Edwards reported that “A Senate proposal to revise how property taxes are assessed was withdrawn pending February revenue numbers.” (See this “Lawmakers” video about one-quarter of the way through). The broadcast did not specify whether the bill withdrawn was SB 346 or another property tax measure (although I don’t know of any other property tax bills in the Senate right now). I called the Secretary of the Senate’s office to confirm, but they said that SB 346 was still listed in their paperwork as “in committee.” If the GPB report is true, this would be a surprising reversal from state legislators.

In other news, today’s AJC raises concerns that metro-Atlanta property assessors have overvalued homes in the region.

This morning, WSB’s Clark Howard has written up several tips on appealing your property assessment. As a reminder, property appeals in Decatur are handled by DeKalb County and must be filed with them by March 1.

Lastly, new efforts underway in the Georgia General Assembly may lead to higher occupational tax collections. In an attempt to increase plummeting sales tax revenues, state legislators are moving toward requiring the state Department of Revenue to share sales tax certificate information with local jurisdictions in exchange for local information about which businesses have licenses. The idea is that the information sharing would lead to detection of businesses that are not paying their sales taxes or occupational sales taxes.

Reminder: business license payments due

The City of Decatur charges an occupation tax on all businesses operating within the city limits. We mailed out renewal notices for 2010 to business owners back in October, which should be paid by or before this January 31.

Although the deadline is upon us, we do provide a 90-day grace period for occupational tax payments, so businesses have until April 1 to pay without being charged late fees.

Apart from the payments, a law passed by the Georgia General Assembly in 2009 (HB 2) also requires businesses to verify their legal presence in the United States in order to receive a business license (OCGA § 50-36-1(e)). Our office mailed out affidavits this week to all active Decatur business owners for them to verify their legal status.  Affidavits are due back to us by April 1.