Rule 40-29-.02. Application for Authorization to Attain a Georgia Agriculture Tax Exemption (GATE) Certificate

Rule 40-29-.02. Application for Authorization to Attain a Georgia Agriculture Tax Exemption (GATE) Certificate

1. (1) No person or entity shall utilize a GATE Certificate unless prior application for certification or licensing has been made to the Department and permission to make such use has been granted by the Commissioner.
2. (2) Only Qualified Agriculture Producers are authorized to use the GATE Certificate.

3. (3) 'Qualified Agriculture Producer' includes producers of agricultural products or services who meet one of the following criteria:

   1. (a) The person or entity is the owner or lessee of agricultural land or other real property from which $5,000.00 or more of agricultural products in aggregate were produced and sold during the year, including payments from government sources;
   2. (b) The person or entity is in the business of performing agricultural operations and has provided $5,000.00 of such services during the year;
   3. (c) The person or entity is in the business of producing long-term agricultural products from which there might not be annual income, including, but not limited to, timber, pulpwood, orchard crops, pecans, livestock, and horticultural or other multiyear agricultural or farm products. Applicants must demonstrate that sufficient volumes of such long-term agricultural products will be produced which have the capacity to generate in aggregate at least $5,000.00 in annualized sales in the future; or
   4. (d) The person or entity must establish, to the satisfaction of the Commissioner of Agriculture, the person or entity is actively engaged in the production of agricultural products and has or will have created sufficient volumes to generate in aggregate at least $5,000.00 in annualized sales.

(4) The person or entity seeking a GATE Certificate may be regarded as an agriculture producer under one or more of following NAICS codes. North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Codes can be found online at www.census.gov and shall be used by applicant to determine which code the person or entity may fall under for purposes of eligibility when applying for a GATE Certificate: 2017 NAICS US Code 2017 NAICS US Title 11111 Soybean Farming 11112 Oilseed (except Soybean) Farming 11113 Dry Pea and Bean Farming 11114 Wheat Farming 11115 Corn Farming 11116 Rice Farming 11119 Other Grain Farming 1112 Vegetable and Melon Farming 111219 Other Vegetable (except Potato) and Melon 1113 Fruit and Tree Nut Farming 111334 Berry (except Strawberry) Farming 1114 Greenhouse, Nursery, and Floriculture Production 111421 Nursery and Tree Production 11191 Tobacco Farming 11192 Cotton Farming 11193 Sugarcane Farming 11194 Hay Farming 111991 Sugar Beet Farming 111992 Peanut Farming 111998 All Other Miscellaneous Crop Farming 11211 Beef Cattle Ranching and Farming, including Feedlots 11212 Dairy Cattle and Milk Production 11213 Dual-Purpose Cattle Ranching and Farming 1122 Hog and Pig Farming 11231 Chicken Egg Production 11232 Broilers and Other Meat Type Chicken Production 11233 Turkey Production 11234 Poultry Hatcheries 11239 Other Poultry Production 112390 Quail, Ostrich 1124 Sheep and Goat Farming 1125 Aquaculture 112519 Alligator 11291 Apiculture 11292 Horses and Other Equine Production 11293 Fur-Bearing Animal and Rabbit Production 11299 All Other Animal Production 112990 All Other Animal Production 1131 Timber Tract Operations 1132 Forest Nurseries and Gathering of Forest Products 1133 Logging 11511 Support Activities for Crop Production 115111 Cotton Ginning 115112 Soil Preparation, Planting, and Cultivating 115113 Crop Harvesting, Primarily by Machine 115114 Postharvest Crop Activities (except Cotton Ginning) 115116 Farm Management Services 1152 Support Activities for Animal Production 1153 Support Activities for Forestry 31111 Animal Food Manufacturing 31142 Fruit and Vegetable Canning, Pickling, and Drying* 3115 Dairy Product Manufacturing* 311611 Animal (except Poultry) Slaughtering* 311615 Poultry Processing 31213 Wineries* 49313 Farm Product Warehousing and Storage IF ON FARM*

1. (5) Applications for the GATE Certificate shall be made online at www.agr.georgia.gov. For application assistance, applicants may contact the GATE Service Center at 855-327-6829 or 855-Farm Tax.

2. (6) The applicant must disclose the following information in order to be deemed eligible by the Department:

   1. (a) The name and address of the farm, ranch, timber operation, or other business owned or operated by the applicant in relation to the production of agricultural products or the custom agricultural service; and
   2. (b) An authentic and active e-mail address.
   3. (c) Applicant must provide the name of the primary certificate holder and the names of no more than (2) authorized users. Commissioner has the authority to increase the number of authorized users, at his discretion.
3. (7) Applicant must check boxes on the application which apply and attest that the information provided is true and accurate. The information provided by the applicant will be shared with the Georgia Department of Revenue.
4. (8) The Commissioner shall not issue or renew an agricultural sales and use tax exemption until the agricultural producer requesting such certificate has provided the Commissioner with a valid state taxpayer identification number obtained through, or recognized by, the Department of Revenue's Georgia Tax Center (https://gtc.dor.ga.gov).

5. (9) The Commissioner shall require applicants to acknowledge and produce, upon request, at least one of the following forms to determine eligibility:

   1. (a) IRS schedule F (Profit or Loss from Farming)
   2. (b) IRS form 4835 (Farm Rental Income and Expenses)
   3. (c) IRS schedule E (Supplemental Income and Loss)
   4. (d) IRS form 4797 (Sales of Business Property)
   5. (e) IRS form 1065 (U.S. Return of Partnership Income)
   6. (f) IRS form 1120 (U.S. Corporation Income Tax Return)
   7. (g) IRS form 1120S (U.S. Income Tax Return for an S Corporation)
6. (10) If an applicant does not file any of the forms provided for in paragraph (9) but claims eligibility for the exemption certificate pursuant to the criteria specified in paragraph (3) of this Rule, the applicant shall provide to the Commissioner any documentation, tax returns, forms, or sales receipts required by the Commissioner, and the Commissioner of Revenue, in his or her discretion, shall determine if the applicant has met such eligibility requirements in determining whether to issue or deny the issuance of the certificate.

7. (11) Any agricultural sales and use tax exemption certificate issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2019, shall be valid for three years except as provided in the schedule set forth below. A certification fee of $150 will be required to obtain a GATE certificate. All fees shall be paid online at www.agr.georgia.gov.

   1. (a) In order to have staggered renewal dates for such three-year certificates, the Commissioner of Agriculture will establish a renewal schedule of existing certificates and prorate said renewals. The following schedule has been created for the 2019 Active GATE Certificate year.

      1. (i) The first 1/3 of active GATE certificate holders, determined alphabetically according to the last name of the primary account holder, will renew for three years and will be assessed the full fee of $150.
      2. (ii) The next 1/3 of active GATE certificate holders, determined alphabetically according to the last name of the primary account holder, will renew for two years and will be assessed the prorated fee of $100.
      3. (iii) The final 1/3 of active GATE certificate holders, determined alphabetically according to the last name of the primary account holder, will renew for one year and will be assessed a renewal fee of $50.
8. (12) Upon completion of the application and receipt of the certification fee online, a certificate, including a unique certification number and a wallet sized certification card, will be mailed to the mailing address provided by the applicant as confirmation of certification. The Department may also issue a key-chain sized certification card, which shall also be acceptable confirmation of certification. Replacement cards may be requested online. A fee of $30 will be assessed for each replacement card. All certification information will be forwarded to the Department of Revenue.
9. (13) Certificate holders shall maintain records of purchases of qualified agricultural products exempt from sales and use tax and shall, upon request, furnish such records the Commissioner and/or Commissioner of Revenue.
10. (14) The GATE Certificate is non-transferable.
11. (15) Certificate holders shall comply with all applicable laws and regulations and obtain all appropriate governmental approval pertaining to the selling, advertising, marketing, packaging, manufacturing, or other commercial handling of agriculture products.
12. (16) Any unauthorized use of the GATE Certificate may result in criminal prosecution.

Authority: O.C.G.A. § 48-8-3.3.

History. New Rule entitled "Application for Authorization to Attain a Georgia Agriculture Tax Exemption (GATE) Certificate" adopted. F. Oct. 30, 2012; eff. Nov. 19, 2012.

Amended: F. Sep. 4, 2013; eff. Sept. 24, 2013.

Amended: F. Oct. 8, 2014; eff. Oct. 28, 2014.

Amended: F. Oct. 12, 2016; eff. Nov. 1, 2016.

Amended: F. Sep. 11, 2018; eff. Oct. 1, 2018.