Georgia (United States of America)

The Government of Georgia is the governmental structure as established by the Georgia State Constitution. It is a republican form of government with three branches:

• The legislature of Georgia is the General Assembly, a bicameral body consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives;
• The Executive branch headed by the Governor;
• The highest judiciary power in Georgia is the Supreme Court, which is composed of nine judges.

According to The Bureau of Economic Analysis, the GSP of Georgia estimates for 2019 was $539.54 billion. Georgia's per capita personal income in 2019 was $50,816.

For years Georgia as a state has had the highest credit rating by Standard & Poor's (AAA). For the five years through November 2017, Georgia has been ranked the top state (number 1) in the nation to do business.

There is a rapid growth in finance, insurance, technology, manufacturing, real estate, service, logistics, transportation, film, tourism, etc in Atlanta - the capital of Georgia.

Currency:

United States Dollar (USD)

The business laws of Georgia are user-friendly and often adopted by other states as a standard for testing business laws. As a result, the business laws of Georgia are familiar to many lawyers both in the US and internationally. Georgia has a common law system.

Type of Company/Corporation:

One IBC supply incorporation in Georgia service with the common type Limited Liability Company (LLC) and C-Corp or S-Corp.

Business Restriction:

The use of the bank, trust, insurance, or reinsurance within the name of the LLC is generally prohibited as limited liability companies in most states are not allowed to engage in a banking or insurance business.

Company Name Restriction:

The name of each limited liability company as set forth in its certificate of formation: Shall contain the words "Limited Liability Company" or the abbreviation "L.L.C." or the designation "LLC";

• May contain the name of a member or manager;
• Must be such as to distinguish it upon the records in the office of the Secretary of State from the name on such records of any corporation, partnership, limited partnership, statutory trust or limited liability company reserved, registered, formed or organized under the laws of the State of Georgia or qualified to do business.
• May contain the following words: "Company," "Association," "Club," "Foundation," "Fund," "Institute," "Society," "Union," "Syndicate," "Limited" or "Trust" (or abbreviations of like import)

Company Information privacy:

No public register of company officers.

Just 4 simple steps are given to start a business in Georgia:

• Step 1: Select basic Resident/Founder nationality information and other additional services that you want (if any).
• Step 2: Register or log in and fill in the company names and director/ shareholder(s) and fill in the billing address and special request (if any).
• Step 3: Choose your payment method (We accept payment by Credit/Debit Card, PayPal, or Wire Transfer).
• Step 4: You will receive soft copies of necessary documents including Certificate of Incorporation, Business Registration, Memorandum and Articles of Association, etc. Then, your new company in Georgia is ready to do business. You can bring the documents in the company kit to open a corporate bank account or we can help you with our long experience of Banking support service.

* These documents required to incorporate a company in Georgia:

• Passport of each shareholder/beneficial owner and director;
• Proof of residential address of each director and shareholder (Must be in English or certified translation version);
• The proposed company names;
• The issued share capital and par value of shares.

Read more:

How to start a business in Georgia, USA

Share Capital:

There is no minimum or a maximum number of authorized shares since Georgia incorporation fees are not based on the share structure.

Director:

Only one director required

Shareholder:

Minimum number of shareholders is one

Georgia company taxation:

Companies of primary interest to offshore investors are the corporation and the limited liability company (LLC). LLCs are a hybrid of a corporation and a partnership: they share the legal features of a corporation but may choose to be taxed as a corporation, partnership, or trust.

• Us Federal Taxation: US Limited Liability companies structured for partnership tax treatment with non-resident members and which conduct no business in the US and which have no US-source income are not subject to US federal income tax and are not required to file a US income tax return.
• State Taxation: US limited liability companies that conduct no business in the recommended states of formation with non-resident members are generally not subject to state income tax and are not required to file a state income tax return.

Financial statement

Local Agent:

Georgia law requires that every business have Registered Agent in the State of Georgia who may be either an individual resident or business that is authorised to do business in the State of Georgia

Double Taxation Agreements:

Georgia, as the state-level jurisdiction within the US, has no tax treaties with non-US jurisdictions or double tax treaties with other states in the US. Rather, in the case of individual taxpayers, double taxation is minimised by providing credits against Georgia taxation for taxes paid in other states.

In the case of corporate taxpayers, double taxation is minimised through allocation and appointment rules related to the income of corporations engaged in multi-state business.

License Fee & Levy:

Generally, the application for business license shall be submitted at the Office of Revenue and the Zoning Division in Atlanta, GA.

**$75 non-refundable registration fee made payable to the City of Atlanta;

**$50 non-refundable zoning review fee made payable to the City of Atlanta.

Read more:

• Georgia trademark
• Georgia business license

Payment, Company return due date:

In Georgia, businesses are asked to renew each year. Failure to renew your business license by February 15 of each year will result in a $500 Failure to File penalty. Payments for your renewal will be invoiced to you after receipt of your renewal license application. The payment deadline is on or before April 1. Any payment received after April 1 will be subject to a 10% penalty of your total license fee plus interest at 1.5% per month.

Businesses failing to renew their business license and that continue to operate are subject to citation requiring the business to appear before the Court for operating without a City of Atlanta business license.