Compilation of Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia › Department 560 - RULES OF DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE › Chapter 560-12 - SALES AND USE TAX DIVISION › Subject 560-12-2 - SUBSTANTIVE RULES AND REGULATIONS › Rule 560-12-2-.117 - High-Technology Data Center Equipment

Current through Rules and Regulations filed through June 27, 2024
(1)
Purpose.
This Rule addresses the sales and use tax exemption in
				O.C.G.A. §
									48-8-3(68.1) for certain
				High-Technology Data Center Equipment.
(2)
Definitions.
For purposes of
				this Rule, the following definitions apply:
(a) "Data Center Owner" means the owner of a
				High-Technology Data Center or any Related Members.
(b) "Exemption Start Date," used synonymously
				with the term "Investment Start Date," means the date on or after July 1, 2018,
				chosen by the Data Center Owner and indicated on its certificate of exemption
				application, which begins the seven-year period during which the Minimum
				Investment Threshold must be met.
(c) "High-Technology Data Center" means a
				facility, campus of facilities, or array of interconnected facilities in this
				state that:
1. Is developed to power, cool,
				secure, and connect the Data Center Owner's equipment or the computer equipment
				of the Data Center Owner's High-Technology Data Center Customers;
2. Has an investment budget plan that meets
				the High-Technology Data Center Minimum Investment Threshold; and
3. Is located wholly within one county in
				this state, unless otherwise approved by the Commissioner.
(d) "High-Technology Data Center Customer"
				means a client, tenant, licensee, or end user of a High-Technology Data Center
				that is a party to a contract with a Data Center Owner that holds a
				High-Technology Data Center exemption certificate under this Rule. The contract
				is subject to the requirements in paragraph (2)(d)1.
1. Contract Requirements.
(i) The Data Center Owner must be a party to
				the contract;
(ii) The contract
				must be for data center services provided by the Data Center Owner at the
				High-Technology Data Center location stated on the Data Center Owner's
				High-Technology Data Center exemption certificate; and
(iii) The initial term of the contract must
				be at least 36 months.
2.
				A client, tenant, licensee, or end user of a High-Technology Data Center is a
				High-Technology Data Center Customer only while such client, tenant, licensee,
				or end user is a party to a contract described in paragraph (2)(d)1.
3. The initial term of the contract may begin
				before the Exemption Start Date for purposes of meeting the initial 36-month
				term. However, the High-Technology Data Center Customer may only make exempt
				purchases and uses of High-Technology Data Center Equipment during the period
				set forth in paragraph (3)(b).
4.
				If a qualifying contract is extended for any consecutive term after the initial
				term, the customer remains a High-Technology Data Center Customer during such
				term so long as the requirements of this Rule are met.
(e) "High-Technology Data Center Equipment."
1. Subject to the exclusion in paragraph
				(2)(e)2., High-Technology Data Center Equipment means:
(i) Computer equipment, as defined in
				O.C.G.A. §
												48-8-3(68), of a
				Data Center Owner or such equipment of a High-Technology Data Center Customer
				that is used or deployed in the High-Technology Data Center; and
(ii) The Data Center Owner's or
				High-Technology Data Center Customer's materials, components, machinery,
				hardware, software, or equipment, including but not limited to, emergency
				backup generators, air handling units, cooling towers, energy storage or energy
				efficiency technology, switches, power distribution units, switching gear,
				peripheral computer devices, routers, batteries, wiring, cabling, or conduit,
				which equipment or materials are used to:
(I)
				Create, manage, facilitate, or maintain the physical and digital environments
				for computer equipment in the High-Technology Data Center;
(II) Protect the High-Technology Data Center
				Equipment from physical, environmental, or digital threats; or
(III) Generate or provide constant delivery
				of power, environmental conditioning, air cooling, or telecommunications
				services for the High-Technology Data Center.
2. This term does not include Real Property,
				as defined in this Rule.
(f) "High-Technology Data Center Minimum
				Investment Threshold," used synonymously with the term "Minimum Investment
				Threshold," means:
1. Creating and maintaining
				an average of the qualifying number of New Quality Jobs during the Investment
				Period as described in paragraph (4); and
2. Making the qualifying aggregate
				expenditures during the Investment Period, as described in paragraph
				(4).
(g) "Investment
				Period" means the seven-year period, chosen by the Data Center Owner, during
				which the Minimum Investment Threshold must be met.
1. The Investment Period begins on the
				Investment Start Date.
2. The
				Investment Period ends seven consecutive years after the Investment Start Date
				on the same month and date as the Investment Start Date.
3. The Investment Period may be any
				consecutive seven-year period that begins on or after July 1, 2018, and ends on
				or before December 31, 2031.
(h) "New Quality Job" means a new quality
				job, as defined in O.C.G.A. §
										48-7-40.17(a)(2),
				that is created and maintained by the Data Center Owner or its customers and
				that meets the requirements in paragraph (4).
(i) "Real Property" means land, any buildings
				thereon, and any fixtures attached thereto. Fixtures are tangible personal
				property that has been installed or attached to land or to any building thereon
				and that is intended to remain permanently in its place. A consideration for
				whether tangible property is a fixture is whether its removal would cause
				significant damage to such property or to the real property to which it is
				attached.
(j) "Related Member"
				means a related member as defined in O.C.G.A. §
										48-7-28.3 with respect to the
				owner of a High-Technology Data Center.