Relative to other states, Georgia exempts few of the major types of personal property. Thus, consideration could be given to expanding the list of personal property tax exemptions. Interviews with county tax officials identified older property, especially farm implements and attachments, boats, heavy construction and manufacturing equipment used in nontransferable production processes as being particularly hard to assess. Many states exempt these types of property. Increasing the minimum value of the exemptions for tools and total value of personal property will decrease the administrative and compliance cost of the personal property tax system.
Small accounts generate a very small portion of tax revenue in Georgia counties.
In contrast, large accounts generate a substantial portion of personal property tax revenues. Modify the depreciation schedule Georgia law allows assessors to use the original cost of the property, depreciation or obsolescence and increased value due to inflation as factors in determining value of personal property. The basis for depreciation is the original cost of the property. Property is depreciated by a fixed percentage each year and all property is taxed based on some minimum residual value regardless of its purported useful life. The depreciation schedule includes an index factor that adjusts the value of property due to inflation.