2020 Georgia Code
Title 45 - Public Officers and Employees
Chapter 12 - Governor
Article 2 - Powers and Duties Generally
§ 45-12-22. Suspension of Collection of Taxes

1. Except as provided in subsection (b) of this Code section, the Governor may suspend the collection of taxes, or any part thereof, due the state until the meeting of the next General Assembly but no longer; but he or she shall not otherwise interfere with the collection of taxes.
2. Unless there has been a state of emergency declaration by the Governor, the Governor shall not suspend or modify in any manner the collection of any rate of state motor fuel taxes under Code Section 48-9-3 as it applies to sales of motor fuel and aviation gasoline as such terms are defined in Code Section 48-9-2 or taxes levied on the sale or use of jet fuel as such term is defined in Code Section 48-8-2. Any suspension or modification of any rate of state motor fuel taxes or taxes levied on the sale or use of jet fuel under this subsection by the Governor shall be effective only until the next meeting of the General Assembly which must ratify such suspension or modification by a two-thirds' vote of both chambers. In the event the General Assembly fails to ratify the Governor's actions, state motor fuel taxes or taxes on the sale or use of jet fuel suspended or modified under this subsection shall be collected at the rate specified absent such suspension or modification and any amounts unpaid due to such suspension or modification shall be collected using such rate.

(Laws 1821, Cobb's 1851 Digest, p. 1025; Code 1863, § 76; Code 1868, § 70; Code 1873, § 75; Code 1882, § 75; Civil Code 1895, § 139; Civil Code 1910, § 162; Code 1933, § 40-205; Ga. L. 2015, p. 236, § 4-1/HB 170; Ga. L. 2016, p. 846, § 45/HB 737; Ga. L. 2018, Ex. Sess., p. ES7, § 1-1/HB 5EX.)

The 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, designated the previously existing provisions of this Code section as subsection (a); in subsection (a), substituted "Except as provided in subsection (b) of this Code section, the" for "The" at the beginning, and inserted "or she" near the end; and added subsection (b).

The 2016 amendment, effective May 3, 2016, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, substituted "state motor fuel taxes under" for "state motor fuel under" in the first sentence of subsection (b).

The 2018 Ex. Sess. amendment, effective November 17, 2018, in subsection (b), inserted "or taxes levied on the sale or use of jet fuel as such term is defined in Code Section 48-8-2" at the end of the first sentence, inserted "or taxes levied on the sale or use of jet fuel" in the middle of the second sentence, and inserted "or taxes on the sale or use of jet fuel suspended or modified" near the beginning of the third sentence.

- Preservation of state's sovereign right of taxation, Ga. Const. 1983, Art. VII, Sec. I, Para. I.

- Ga. L. 2015, p. 236, § 8-1/HB 170, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "This Act shall be known and may be cited as the 'Transportation Funding Act of 2015.' "

Ga. L. 2015, p. 236, § 8-2/HB 170, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "It is the intention of the General Assembly, subject to appropriations and other constitutional obligations of this state, that year to year revenue increases be prioritized to fund education, transportation, and health care in this state."

Ga. L. 2015, p. 236, § 9-1(b)/HB 170, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "Tax, penalty, and interest liabilities and refund eligibility for prior taxable years shall not be affected by the passage of this Act and shall continue to be governed by the provisions of Title 48 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated as it existed immediately prior to the effective date of this Act." This Act became effective July 1, 2015.

- For article on the 2015 amendment of this Code section, see 32 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 261 (2015).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Extent of power.

- This section does not confer upon the Governor the power to compromise or release a corporation from an ad valorem tax; the Governor can do no more than suspend the tax until the meeting of the next General Assembly. State v. Southwestern R.R., 70 Ga. 11 (1883).

Cited in Carroll City-County Hosp. Auth. v. Oxford, 104 Ga. App. 213, 121 S.E.2d 387 (1961); Maddox v. Fortson, 226 Ga. 71, 172 S.E.2d 595 (1970).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Discretion to suspend collection of taxes.

- The Governor under this section is given broad discretionary power to suspend the collection of taxes or any part thereof due the state until the next meeting of the General Assembly after such suspension. 1950-51 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 424.

- This section assumes that a tax liability has lawfully accrued and that taxes are legally due the state, and the Governor has no authority to extinguish this liability; the extent of the Governor's power is to suspend the collection of it until the meeting of the next General Assembly. 1958-59 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 360.

Under the provisions of this section, a Governor has the authority to suspend the collection of taxes until the next session of the General Assembly but is not authorized to relieve the taxpayer from any tax liability; the grant of an exemption from taxation is a legislative function which can only be exercised by the General Assembly. 1971 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 71-23.

- The suspension of taxes under this section is really just a postponement of the date upon which taxes become due and are payable. 1971 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 71-23.

- When the collection of taxes is suspended by the Governor's executive order, under this section, until the next meeting of the General Assembly, and at the next meeting of the General Assembly such executive order fails of ratification, the taxes which would otherwise have been due and collectible thereupon become due and payable. 1958-59 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 360.

The General Assembly may ratify the Governor's order and make the relief permanent, but if legislative ratification is not forthcoming at the meeting of the next General Assembly the effect of the Governor's order of suspension, by the express language of the statute, terminates, leaving the taxpayer exposed to, and without any relief against, the usual processes of the collection of what had all the time been a legal liability for the taxes. 1958-59 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 360.

- An executive order or suspension is terminated by operation of law upon the failure or refusal of the General Assembly to ratify it at its next meeting after the date of the issuance of the executive order since the General Assembly might ratify the order by proper legislation at any time prior to its adjournment, it must be considered that the order remained in effect until the final adjournment. 1952-53 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 244.

- When the collection of taxes is suspended by the Governor's executive order under this section, and prior to submission of the matter to the next General Assembly a succeeding Governor revokes such executive order, the taxes which would otherwise have been due and collectible during the period of such executive order thereupon become due and payable. 1958-59 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 360.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 72 Am. Jur. 2d, State and Local Taxation, § 712 et seq.

- 81A C.J.S., States, § 236. 84 C.J.S., Taxation, § 15.