Question 1

Does a 25-year SBA note pay Georgia's intangible recording tax?

Accepted Answer

Yes. A 25-year term is long-term by a wide margin. O.C.G.A. 48-6-61 charges $1.50 for each $500 or fraction of the face amount of a note secured by Georgia real property, about 0.30 percent, on an instrument securing a long-term note, and 48-6-60(3), as amended by HB 586 effective July 1, 2025, defines long-term as any part of principal falling due more than 62 months from the date of the note. On a $1,500,000 note that is $4,500 (1,500,000 / 500 = 3,000 units x $1.50 = $4,500), capped at $25,000 on a single note. The county collects from the holder, who may pass it to the borrower but may not treat it as part of the finance charge. Ask your closing attorney to price it against the actual instruments being recorded on your structure. Subject to underwriting.

Question 2

What does Georgia charge on the purchase of the building itself?

Accepted Answer

0.10 percent, and the security deed is exempt. O.C.G.A. 48-6-1 sets the transfer tax at $1.00 for the first $1,000 of consideration plus 10 cents for each additional $100 once consideration exceeds $100, so a $1,500,000 owner-occupied building carries $1,500 ($1 on the first $1,000, plus 14,990 additional $100 units x $0.10 = $1,499). Payment to the superior court clerk, with the actual consideration disclosed on the prescribed form, is a prerequisite to recording under 48-6-4, and 48-6-2(a)(1) exempts any instrument given to secure a debt, so the security deed adds nothing. We publish no Georgia recording fee schedule, because the current superior court schedule was not verified. Your closing attorney quotes those.

Question 3

What is different about closing an SBA deal in Georgia?

Accepted Answer

A Georgia attorney has to run it, in person. In re UPL Advisory Opinion 2003-2 approved the State Bar committee's position that preparing and facilitating the execution of a deed of conveyance by a non-attorney is the unauthorized practice of law, that the role cannot be delegated to a non-lawyer, and that the attorney must be physically present at the closing. The attorney holds and disburses funds, so there is no escrow company in the chain. Georgia also has no remote online notarization for its own notaries, pandemic-era authority having lapsed in 2022. Stack that on an SBA document set and the closing calendar becomes the long pole, which is one reason SBA files run 30 to 90 days rather than weeks. Line up the firm early and confirm the current position with them.

Question 4

What Georgia taxes apply to the operating business behind the building?

Accepted Answer

A flat income tax, and a net worth tax that most small operators do not owe. HB 111 cut Georgia's flat individual rate to 5.19 percent effective January 1, 2025, and HB 463, signed May 11, 2026, cut it to 4.99 percent effective January 1, 2026, with provision for further annual reductions. Georgia applies the same flat rate to corporate income. The corporate net worth tax under Title 48 Chapter 13 Article 4 falls on corporations doing business or owning property in Georgia, but a partnership pays none, and a single-member LLC pays none unless its owner is a corporation, and corporations with net worth of $100,000 or less have been exempt since net worth years beginning January 1, 2018, though they still file. We publish no Georgia rate for any year after 2026, because further reductions are revenue-trigger dependent. Take the entity question to your Georgia CPA.

Question 5

How much do I need to put down on a Georgia SBA deal?

Accepted Answer

As little as 10%. SBA structures finance up to 90%, so on a $1,500,000 Georgia building that is up to $1,350,000 financed and $150,000 from you (1,500,000 x 90% = 1,350,000), before closing costs. The property has to be owner-occupied commercial real estate, and terms run up to 25 years across the 7(a) and 504 programs. Add the Georgia attorney fee, the 0.10 percent transfer tax, and the intangible recording tax on a long-term note. Subject to underwriting.

Question 6

What is the smallest SBA loan you will write in Georgia?

Accepted Answer

$350,000, running to $5,000,000 and up. Below that floor the process cost is hard to justify for either of us. Plan on 30 to 90 days to close, which is the honest range on an SBA file anywhere and is not shortened by Georgia's in-person attorney closing. If the building will not be owner-occupied, Atlanta CRE bridge or our commercial permanent program is the right door instead. Subject to underwriting.

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