The Taxpayer and the Object of Property Tax
Property tax is a recurring obligation of every owner of real estate, and planning the expense begins with article 201 of the Code. The taxpayers are: a resident enterprise or organization — on assets recorded as fixed or investment assets, on unmounted equipment, unfinished construction and property leased out; a non-resident — on property located in Georgia, including property transferred under lease or usufruct; and a natural person — on real estate in ownership, including unfinished construction, as well as yachts, helicopters, aircraft and light automobiles. A special rule concerns property registered in the name of a deceased person: the taxpayer is the person holding the property in possession or use.
The definition of the object carries further detail: an enterprise is also a payer on property acquired as security for a contractual obligation and on property acquired at auction or otherwise in the enforcement of a monetary claim; a natural person — also on property received by lease from a non-resident. Property tax is thus not always a function of ownership alone: it follows possession and use as well, and on a deceased person's property it is precisely the actual user who answers for it.
The computation of the annual rate has its own detail: for property leased out, the value at the moment of transfer is taken, and in subsequent years — the residual balance value the property would have had absent the lease. Where a market price is applied, interest accrues on the amount charged on the difference from the 30th day after delivery of the tax demand, and that difference is not treated as a deduction either.