Randolph Ag Update
Volume 1, Issue 1
December 10, 2012
Upcoming
Events
 Cotton Production
Meeting 2/4/2013
 Corn Production
Meeting 2/18/2013
 Peanut and Weed
Production Meeting
3/14/2013
 Soybean Production
Meeting 3/19/2013
Tax rules changing for GA Producers
Farmers looking to maintain their current sales
tax exemptions on agricultural supplies in 2013
will have to apply for a new state certification
before heading to their local
supply store.
Under new state tax rules passed
this spring in House Bill 386,
farmers must register with the
Georgia Department of
Agriculture in order to use
current farmers’ sales tax
exemptions. The same new law
expands the range of products
that are sales tax exempt for
farmers.
“The new G.A.T.E. ID card will
provide a more streamlined
process when making qualified
purchases on items used on the
farm,” said Bo Warren,
director of business
development with the Georgia Department of
Agriculture. “Our department determines who
is eligible to participate in the program while
the Georgia Department of Revenue will
determine what specific items are exempt
under the program.”
Under the new rules, retailers will no longer fill
out the ST-A1 sales tax exemption forms when
farmers buy their supplies. Instead, farmers
will present a certificate of tax-exempt status
that will be issued by the Department of
Agriculture, and sales tax will not be charged.
Farmers started registering their operations
with the Department of Agriculture on Nov. 15.
So far more than 5,000 have applied for their
tax exemption certificates, Warren said.
Producers can register by mail, by phone or
online, but so far about 90
percent have applied through
the department’s website.
There are four primary areas in
which producers may qualify.
Farmers who make more than
$2,500 from their fields each
year qualify for the sales tax
exemption, but so do many
value-added producers and
farm-related businesses.
Those who perform $2,500 of
some farm-related services are
eligible, including people who
maintain timberland or land
that is kept in a conservation
easement and farmers who
have new orchards or other long-term crops
that will one day produce $2,500 worth of
produce in a year.
“Once agricultural producers have registered
with the Georgia Department of Agriculture
and received their sales tax exemption
certificate, doing business with multiple
vendors or new vendors during the year will be
simpler than in the past,” said Keith
Kightlinger, an Extension economist and
Georgia farm tax expert. “Instead of obtaining,
completing and providing a Form ST-A1 to each
vendor, the farmer or rancher will only have to
present their state-issued certificate.”
However, the new GATE program will also
Randolph County
Cooperative Extension
Brock Ward
Ag and Natural Resources Agent
103 East Church Street
P.O. Box 282
Cuthbert, GA 39840
Tel: (229)732-2311
Mobile: (229)310-1441
Fax: (229)732-3393
E-mail: Bward1@uga.edu
“And he prayed again, and the
heaven gave rain, and the earth
brought forth her fruit.”
James 5:18
http://www.caes.uga.edu/extension/
randolph/anr/index.html
Georgia Agricultural Tax Exemption (continued)
mean that the farmer or rancher will have to
renew his or her sales tax exemption and pay a
processing fee each year, Kightlinger noted.
The new legislation expands the description of
many sales tax exempt products, which will in
many cases remove confusion over whether or
not a specific product qualifies for the tax
exemption, Kightlinger said.
One area clarifies the definition of agricultural
production inputs to specifically include “…ice
or other refrigerants, including, but not limited
to, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, ammonia and
propylene glycol used in the processing for
market or chilling of agricultural products.”
Another section provides more specific
information on the energy used in agriculture,
listing propane, butane, natural gas, wood,
wood products and wood byproducts as eligible
energy sources and “…electricity or other fuel
used in the drying, cooking or further
processing of raw agricultural products,
including, but not limited to, food processing of
raw agricultural products.”
Those seeking information on applying for taxexempt status can visit the Department of
Agriculture’s website at
www.forms.agr.georgia.gov/GATE.
For additional information about this program,
contact the Randolph County Cooperative
Extension Office.