Georgia tax council held another meeting Wednesday at Mercer University’s campus in Atlanta. This time the panel, which is charged with rewriting the state’s tax code focused on changes in neighboring states that could affect Georgia’s ideas as Susanna Capelouto reports.

Georgia is not alone in trying to figure out how to broaden its tax base. Neighboring states are also trying to revamp their tax structure. Council President A.D. Frazier questioned one of the presenting experts on whether Georgia needs to pay attention to South Carolina, where a candidate for governor wants to eliminate the corporate income tax.
“We see ourselves in fight to the death competition with South Carolina and Tennessee,” Frazier says. “Is there a sort of a bigger thy neighbor strategy at play here where if they drop it or lower it we have to that too otherwise we become uncompetitive?”
The expert, Matt Gardner, with the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy said that in the race between states to outbid each other, the only winner is usually the company relocating there.
Georgia’s tax council is not expected to make any concrete decisions until after the November elections. It will hold another fact finding meeting in Gainesville Thursday evening.

Tags: Mercer University, Georgia Tax Council, Tax Council, state tax code, Institute on taxation and economic policy