Availability of Information via Electronic Means; Public Records; Unlawful Use of Data; Regulatory Authority

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Revenue and Taxation
  4. Tax Executions
  5. Uniform System for Filing State Tax Executions
  6. Availability of Information via Electronic Means; Public Records; Unlawful Use of Data; Regulatory Authority

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  1. The department shall maintain information on executions in its information management system in a form that permits information related to executions to be readily accessible in an electronic form via the Internet and available to the public. The following shall be available within such system at no charge to the public:
    1. Search by delinquent taxpayer name, execution number, last four digits of the taxpayer's social security number, or, when applicable, federal employee identification number;
    2. Search by identification number assigned to the execution by the department;
    3. The basis for an execution, including, but not limited to, the amount of the taxes, penalties, interest, and fees owed, and the tax periods and relevant assessment dates of the taxes owed;
    4. The place, date, and time of the filing of the execution;
    5. The status of the execution as defined in subsection (b) of this Code section;
    6. The present balance of the execution;
    7. Provision of official electronic copies of an execution; and
    8. Notwithstanding Code Sections 48-2-15 and 48-7-60, provision and issuance of official payoff information as to any execution.
  2. An execution shall hold one of the following official statuses on the department information system and such status shall be available, except as provided below, and on the electronic printable forms of state tax executions:
    1. Active - The execution is perfected and enforceable;
    2. Withdrawn - The execution was issued in error and is not enforceable. Within two business days from the date the department discovers an error in the filing of an execution, it shall change the status of the execution to withdrawn. Such execution shall be treated as though it was never filed;
    3. Released - The execution has been released and is no longer enforceable. Within 15 business days from the department's receipt of payment in full of an execution, the department shall change the status of the execution to released. The department may release an unpaid execution that the department determines is not legally or practically collectable;
    4. Refiled - If an execution is released in error, the department may file a new execution for any outstanding, finally determined tax liability to bear an active status as of the date of the new recording; and
    5. Expired - The execution has expired pursuant to Code Section 48-3-42 and is unenforceable.
  3. The department shall provide to the authority such electronic linking data elements as may be required by the authority to link filed executions found in the authority's state-wide uniform automated information system for real and personal property records to the matching data related to the execution in the department's information management system.
  4. The department's information management system as provided for in this Code section shall constitute a public record and the department shall redact information in accordance with Code Section 9-11-7.1.
  5. The department's information management system as provided for in this Code section shall not be used for survey, marketing, or solicitation purposes. Survey, marketing, or solicitation purposes shall not include any action by the department or its authorized agents to collect a debt on an execution. The Attorney General is hereby authorized to bring an action at law or in equity to address the unlawful use of such information for a survey, marketing, or solicitation purpose and to recover the costs of such action, including reasonable attorney's fees.
  6. The commissioner may adopt reasonable rules and regulations providing for the maintenance, reliability, accessibility, and use of the department's information management system. Such rules and regulations may address, among other matters, the authenticity of the electronic printable executions and issues related to periods during which the information system may be unavailable for use due to routine maintenance or other activities.

(Code 1981, §48-3-43, enacted by Ga. L. 2017, p. 723, § 9/HB 337; Ga. L. 2018, p. 1, § 4/HB 661.)

The 2018 amendment, effective February 20, 2018, added "and" at the end of paragraph (a)(7); deleted former paragraph (a)(8), which read: "Provision and issuance of official statements of lien pursuant to Code Section 44-1-18;"; deleted former paragraph (a)(9), which read: "Provision and issuance of official certificates of clearance pursuant to Code Section 44-1-18;"; deleted former paragraph (a)(10), which read: "Search by identification number assigned to certificates of clearance; and"; redesignated former paragraph (a)(11) as present paragraph (a)(8) and rewrote present paragraph (a)(8); and deleted "or canceled" following "released" in the first sentence of paragraph (b)(3).

Cross references.

- Revision of automated information system for state tax execution data, § 15-6-97.3.

Code Commission notes.

- Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2017, a semicolon was substituted for a period at the end of paragraph (a)(9).


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