Gov. Nathan Deal today issued an executive order suspending collection of the state’s 4 percent sales and use tax on jet fuel, effective August 1. In FY 2018, the state sales tax on jet fuel amounted to more than $39 million in revenue.
“Georgia imposes the fourth-highest fuel tax burden among states with major airport hubs, putting us at a daily disadvantage behind North Carolina, Texas, Florida and New York, among others,” says Deal. “In fact, Georgia’s tax burden ranks only behind high-tax states California, Illinois and Michigan.”
Georgia airports pump over $62 billion annually into the state’s economy. Direct flights out of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport support nearly $11 billion in foreign investment and 42,000 jobs across the state.
“In order to remain the No. 1 state in which to do business, attract more companies to our communities and provide more jobs for our growing population, it is crucial to maintain and preserve a pro-business climate,” the governor says. “Providing tax relief to job creators will help us maintain our competitive advantage as a global hub for commerce now and in the future.”
Political football
The jet-fuel tax became a political football earlier this year when then-gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle led GOP lawmakers in killing the tax break after Delta dropped its NRA discount.
““Businesses have every legal right to make their own decisions, but the Republican majority in our state legislature also has every right to govern guided by our principles,” Cagle said at the time.
At the time, Deal said he would continue to push for the jet-fuel tax break in separate legislation.
A similar tax break for manufacturers helped fuel a resurgence of jobs in the past five years.
Deal says 395,807 manufacturing jobs have been added to the state’s economy since Georgia eliminated the energy sales tax on manufacturers in 2012.
“Just as removal of this tax burden spurred growth in the manufacturing arena, so will removal of the jet fuel tax burden in the airline industry,” the governor says.
