The Georgia Tax Tribunal will convenes for the first time Jan. 2.

Created last year by the Legislature, the specialized court is intended to resolve tax disputes in a more efficient and predictable manner.

The court will consider complex and weighty tax disputes between large businesses and the state. It will also have a small claims division where individual taxpayers can bring their accountants into court to assist them with appeals involving any state tax issue.

The new court is intended to provide taxpayers the opportunity to bring their cases before a judge with an expertise on tax law, Brian Robinson, the governor's spokesman, said.

Tax disputes often take months, even years, to resolve and can run up costly attorneys' fees.

Now, aggrieved parties can take their tax appeals directly to the new court.

As it now stands, taxpayers who go to court to challenge their assessments face great uncertainty as to how long it will take to get a final resolution.

Some taxpayers choose to file their cases in local Superior Courts. But tax disputes rarely get top priority before these judges, who oversee serious felony cases, which bring speedy trial demands, and contentious divorce and child custody proceedings.

Parties also can bring challenges before a state administrative law judge. But this judge's decision can be either accepted or reversed by the state revenue commissioner. An unsatisfied party can then take the dispute to a Superior Court judge, who must consider the tax dispute anew.

Beginning in January, taxpayers can no longer bring their challenges before an administrative law judge. The court's creation was recommended two years ago by a special tax reform council created by the Legislature. It was enacted this past legislative session in House Bill 100, which sets up the new court as a 10-year-long pilot project. Beaudrot's initial appointment, for four years, can be renewed.

The new court could help attract businesses thinking about moving to Georgia, said Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, the bill's sponsor.