Reserved. Repealed by Ga. L. 1991, p. 1903, § 9, effective July 1, 1991.
Editor's notes.- This Code Section was based on Ga. L. 1990, p. 1901, § 1.
Ga. L. 1991, p. 1903, § 15, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that the repeal of this Code section shall be applicable beginning January 1, 1992, with respect to ad valorem taxation of timber and shall be applicable beginning January 1, 1992, for all other purposes. Taxation for prior periods shall continue to be governed by prior law.
ARTICLE 2 PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTIONS AND DEFERRAL
JUDICIAL DECISIONS
Editor's notes.- In light of the similarity of the statutory provisions, decisions under former Code 1933, Ch. 92-2 are included in the annotations for this article.
Construction of tax exemptions must not conflict with legislative intent.
- Rule of strict construction of tax exemptions does not relieve a court of the duty of interpreting the exemption by the ordinary rules of construction in order to carry out the intention of the General Assembly and does not apply if there is no language in an Act justifying or requiring construction. A fair and reasonable construction of a statute or contract must always be adopted, giving the language used its ordinary meaning, and taking into consideration the purpose and spirit of the exemption as well as the public policy entertained at the time and the history of the times when the statute was passed. Turner v. Board of County Tax Assessors, 71 Ga. App. 374, 31 S.E.2d 61 (1944) (decided under former Code 1933, Ch. 92-2).
Strict construction requires elimination of well-founded doubts, not mere possibility of doubt.
- Rule that exemptions must be strictly construed in favor of the taxing power does not mean that if there is a possibility of a doubt it is to be at once resolved against the exemption. It simply means that if, after the application of all rules of interpretation for the purpose of ascertaining the intention of the General Assembly a well-founded doubt exists, then an ambiguity occurs which may be settled by the strict rule of construction. Turner v. Board of County Tax Assessors, 71 Ga. App. 374, 31 S.E.2d 61 (1944) (decided under former Code 1933, Ch. 92-2).
Strict construction of tax exemptions does not require that the narrowest possible meaning be given to words descriptive of the exemption. Turner v. Board of County Tax Assessors, 71 Ga. App. 374, 31 S.E.2d 61 (1944) (decided under former Code 1933, Ch. 92-2).
OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
Exception to penalty provided for in article.
- Penalty provided in O.C.G.A. § 48-2-44(b) applies to all state and local ad valorem property taxes, except if original tax due is $500.00 or less and is on homestead property as defined in O.C.G.A. Art. 2, Ch. 5, T. 48. The penalty applies to no other taxes. 1981 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 81-86.
RESEARCH REFERENCES
ALR.
- Exemption of part of building or part of its value for taxation, 159 A.L.R. 685.
Tax exemption of real property as affected by time of acquisition of title by private owner entitled to exemption, 54 A.L.R.2d 996.
PART 1 TAX EXEMPTIONS
Law reviews.
- For note, "Bearing Hospital Tax Breaks: How Nonprofits Benefit from Your Surprise Medical Bills," see 35 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 809 (2019). For comment, "Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer: Playing ‘In the Joints' and on the Playground," see 68 Emory L.J. 1147 (2019).