(a) As used in this Code section, the term:

(1) "Rural county" means a county in this state that has 65 persons per square mile or fewer according to the United States decennial census of 1990 or any future such census.

(2) "Rural hospital" means an acute-care hospital located in a rural county that contains fewer than 100 beds.

(3) "Rural physician" means a physician licensed to practice medicine in this state, who practices in a rural county and resides in a rural county or a county contiguous to the rural county in which such physician practices and primarily admits patients to a rural hospital and practices in the fields of family practice, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, internal medicine, or general surgery.

(b)

(1) A person qualifying as a rural physician shall be allowed a credit against the tax imposed by Code Section 48-7-20 in an amount not to exceed $5,000.00. The tax credit may be claimed for not more than five years, provided that the physician continues to qualify as a rural physician. In no event shall the amount of the tax credit exceed the taxpayer's income tax liability, and any unused tax credit shall not be allowed to be carried forward to apply to the taxpayer's succeeding years' tax liability. No such tax credit shall be allowed the taxpayer against prior years' tax liability.

(2) No physician who on July 1, 1995, is currently practicing in a rural county shall be eligible to receive the credit provided for in paragraph (1) of this subsection. No credit shall be allowed for a physician who has previously practiced in a rural county, unless, after July 1, 1995, that physician returns to practice in a rural county after having practiced in a nonrural county for at least three years.

(c) The commissioner shall promulgate any rules and regulations necessary to implement and administer this Code section.