Can a taxpayer obtain a Georgia intangible recording tax refund after failing to protest at payment and filing the claim more than 30 days later?

Plain-English summary

The Georgia Department of Revenue denied a claim to refund intangible recording tax paid when a security deed was recorded for two separate procedural reasons. First, the taxpayer did not file a written protest when the tax was paid. Second, the refund claim was submitted more than 30 days after payment.

For the first ground, the Department read O.C.G.A. § 48-6-76(a) to require the protest at payment so the collecting officer can make a conditional collection. Subsection (b) directs funds received under protest into a special escrow account until the protest is resolved. The Department said the claimant's documents and county property records showed that no protest accompanied this payment.

For the second ground, the letter quoted a provision allowing a taxpayer who made a payment under written protest to file a refund claim within 30 days after payment. The published source cites that quotation as O.C.G.A. § 48-7-6(c). This page preserves that citation exactly as printed; it does not silently replace it with the § 48-6-76 citation used elsewhere in the same letter.

The letter also said the claimant could bring a refund action against the collecting officer in the superior court of the county where the instrument was recorded or in the Georgia Tax Tribunal, no later than 60 days from the denial and service under law.

What this means for you

Borrowers, lenders, and closing professionals

If intangible recording tax is disputed at recordation, the ruling says a written protest must be filed with the payment. The protest is what permits the collecting officer to treat the money as conditionally collected and hold it in escrow.

Property owners seeking a refund

Do not assume the later refund claim can repair a missed protest. In this matter, the Department treated both the absent payment-time protest and the more-than-30-day delay as independent reasons to deny the claim.

Tax professionals

Preserve the payment receipt, written protest, filing date, and service date. The letter applies one deadline measured from payment and states another 60-day period measured from denial and service. It also contains the unusual printed § 48-7-6(c) citation described above, so consult the current official law rather than silently inferring what the Department meant.

Common questions

Q: What were the two reasons for denying this refund?
A: The tax had not been paid under written protest, and the refund claim was submitted more than 30 days after the payment.

Q: Why must the protest accompany payment?
A: The letter says that is what allows a conditional collection, with the protested funds placed in a special escrow account until the protest is resolved.

Q: What citation does the letter print for the 30-day deadline? A: It prints O.C.G.A. § 48-7-6(c). That source wording is preserved here exactly, even though the same letter cites O.C.G.A. § 48-6-76 for the protest-and-refund procedure.

Q: What review option did the letter state after denial? A: It said a refund action against the collecting officer could be filed in the relevant county superior court or the Georgia Tax Tribunal within 60 days from the denial and service pursuant to law.

Q: Can another taxpayer rely on this as a prospective ruling? A: No. The Department's site labels it a Letter Ruling, but the document itself is a denial of a specific redacted refund claim based on its payment, protest, and filing history.

Citations and references

• O.C.G.A. § 48-6-76(a) (written protest at the time intangible recording tax is paid; conditional collection)
• O.C.G.A. § 48-6-76(b) (special escrow account for funds received under protest)
• O.C.G.A. § 48-7-6(c) (the source's printed citation for the quoted 30-day refund-claim deadline)

Source

• IRT/RETT search page: https://dor.georgia.gov/search-irt-rett-letter-rulings
• Topic page: https://dor.georgia.gov/failure-follow-code
• Original PDF: https://dor.georgia.gov/document/document/georgia-letter-ruling-no-irt-2022-04-22-02-failure-follow-codepdf/download

Original ruling text

Frank M. O’Connell

Deputy State Revenue Commissioner

Robyn A. Crittenden

State Revenue Commissioner

Georgia Department of Revenue
Office of the General Counsel
1800 Century Boulevard, N.E., Suite 15107, Atlanta, Georgia 30345

April 22, 2022

VIA: First Class Mail

RE: Intangible Recording Tax Protest and Claim for Refund for Security Deed, recorded on

To Whom it May Concern,

The Department of Revenue has carefully considered your Claim for Refund related to the above-captioned recording. The Department has determined that the intangible recording tax was not paid under protest at the time of filing the instrument as required under O.C.G.A. § 48-6-76. Moreover, your Claim for Refund is untimely under the statute. Accordingly, your Claim for Refund is denied. A copy of this letter is being mailed to the Dawson County Clerk of Superior Court.

As specified in O.C.G.A. § 48-6-76(a), a written protest must be filed at the time of payment of the intangible recording tax in order for the collecting officer to make a conditional collection of the payment. The conditional collection is significant because, as explained in O.C.G.A. § 48-6-76(b), the funds received under protest are deposited into a special escrow account until the protest is resolved. The statutory requirement that a protest must be filed at the time of payment is reiterated on the Protest and Claim for Refund forms. Based on the documentation you provided and county property records, payment was not made under protest for the above-mentioned instrument.

As specified in O.C.G.A. § 48-7-6(c), a taxpayer “making a payment under written protest may file at any time within 30 days after the date of payment a claim for refund of the protested amount...” In this matter, the Claim for Refund was submitted more than thirty days past when the intangible recording tax was paid.

Please be advised that any taxpayer whose Claim for Refund is denied, in whole or in part,

RE: Intangible Recording Tax Protest and Claim for Refund for Security Deed, Po

April 22, 2022
Page 2

has the right to bring an action for refund of the amount so claimed and not approved against the collecting officer who received the payment and recorded the instrument. The action may be filed in either the Superior Court of the county in which the instrument was recorded or in the Georgia Tax Tribunal no later than 60 days from the date of the denial and service pursuant to law.

Sincerely,

Domenick Capetocte

Dominick Capotosto
Deputy General Counsel

cc: PF Clerk of Superior Court