Block Inc. Beats Atlanta Occupation Tax Assessment on Appeal (1)

Digital payments company Block Inc. is entitled to a $539,000 refund of occupation taxes levied by Atlanta, the Georgia Court of Appeals affirmed Tuesday.

The plain language of the city’s occupation tax statute “provides that Block’s Georgia gross receipts, as reported to the local taxing authority, be divided by the number of its offices—including out-of-state offices—contributing to those Georgia gross receipts,” Judge Kenneth B. Hodges III wrote.

The ruling clarifies the tax obligations of companies like Block that operate in Atlanta and elsewhere. Upholding the city’s reading could have led to double taxation by Atlanta and other jurisdictions, the ...