Retraining Tax Credit

Staff from the Office of Economic Development Services work with existing industries located in the counties served by Athens Technical College to establish eligibility for retraining tax credits from the State of Georgia. Qualified businesses may receive a tax credit of 50 percent of their direct training expenses with up to a $500 credit per full-time employee per training program. The annual maximum of the credit amounts to $1,250 per employee. Eligible expenses include:

• Costs of instructors and teaching materials
• Employee wages during retraining
• Reasonable travel expenses

Retraining tax credits may be used to offset up to 50 percent of a company's Georgia corporate income tax liability. If the earned credit exceeds that limit, then the unused credit may be carried forward for up to 10 years and applied to future years' tax liability.

Any business filing a Georgia income tax return is eligible for the retraining tax credit. To qualify, training programs must be designed to enhance quality and productivity or teach certain software technologies.

The vice president for economic development coordinates the assistance to a company interested in claiming the retraining tax credit. The vice president is also responsible for determining if programs are eligible for a tax credit and for approving the required forms.

For questions or more information on any of these programs, please call (706) 369-5763.