(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) Only Qualified
Agriculture Producers are authorized to use the GATE Certificate.
(3) 'Qualified Agriculture Producer' includes
producers of agricultural products or services who meet one of the following
criteria:
(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;
(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;
(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
(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*
(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.
(6) The applicant
must disclose the following information in order to be deemed eligible by the
Department:
(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
(b) An
authentic and active e-mail address.
(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.
(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.
(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).
(9) The Commissioner shall require applicants
to acknowledge and produce, upon request, at least one of the following forms
to determine eligibility:
(a) IRS schedule F
(Profit or Loss from Farming)
(b)
IRS form 4835 (Farm Rental Income and Expenses)
(c) IRS schedule E (Supplemental Income and
Loss)
(d) IRS form 4797 (Sales of
Business Property)
(e) IRS form
1065 (U.S. Return of Partnership Income)
(f) IRS form 1120 (U.S. Corporation Income
Tax Return)
(g) IRS form 1120S
(U.S. Income Tax Return for an S Corporation)
(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.
(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.
(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.
(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.
(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.
(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.
(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.
(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.
(14) The GATE Certificate is
non-transferable.
(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.
(16) Any
unauthorized use of the GATE Certificate may result in criminal
prosecution.
