Gwinnett County Occupation Tax Exemption for Disabled Veterans

Gwinnett County Code section 18-41: "Any business majority-owned by a disabled veteran, or any practitioner who is a disabled veteran as provided for in O.C.G.A. § 43-12-2, shall be exempt from the payment of any administrative fee and occupation tax levied herein". It covers only one business or occupation, and the veteran must still file the application and obtain an occupation tax certificate from the Department of Planning and Development. Who counts. Section 18-19 defines a disabled veteran as someone who served in the armed services and left under conditions other than dishonorable, with a VA certificate of a disability of at least 25% incurred in line of duty in peacetime or at least 10% in wartime, "with further certification that such disability is likely to be permanent and continuing". How it compares with State law. The State exemption in chapter 12 of Title 43 (see the Georgia entry) also requires that the veteran owe no Georgia income tax, and runs through a probate court certificate and a Department of Veterans Service certificate. Gwinnett's ordinance asks for neither, and reaches a business the veteran majority-owns, so a veteran who owes income tax can still claim the county exemption in unincorporated Gwinnett. It adds a condition of its own, that the disability be likely permanent. Inside a city, the city's occupation tax and the State exemption apply instead.