Georgia — Personal Income Tax

Georgia imposes a personal income tax on every resident with respect to Georgia taxable net income. The tax is also imposed on nonresidents with respect to Georgia taxable net income not otherwise exempted that is received from services performed, property owned, lottery prizes awarded by the Georgia Lottery Corporation, or from business carried on in Georgia. For 2026, the flat tax rate is 4.99 percent. This rate became effective January 1, 2026, under the Georgia Economic Growth and Tax Relief Act of 2026 (HB 463), signed by Governor Kemp on May 11, 2026. HB 463 reduced the rate from 5.19 percent (the 2025 rate) to 4.99 percent and established a framework for further annual reductions of 0.125 percentage points, subject to revenue triggers, until the rate reaches a floor of 3.99 percent.

Nonresident employees are generally subject to Georgia withholding if more than 5% of their total earned income is attributable to Georgia, or if more than $5,000 of their wages are attributable to Georgia.

Source: Important Tax Updates | Gov. Kemp Signs Legislation Lowering Taxes and Supporting Economic Growth

Georgia imposes a flat personal income tax rate of 5.19 percent for tax year 2026. This rate applies uniformly to all levels of Georgia taxable net income, regardless of filing status or income amount. The rate is set by O.C.G.A. § 48-7-20 and represents a reduction from prior years as part of a legislatively enacted schedule of rate decreases. Prior to 2024, Georgia used a graduated bracket structure with rates up to 5.75 percent; the state eliminated those brackets in favor of a single flat rate under the Tax Reduction and Reform Act of 2022 (HB 1437). The flat rate was 5.49 percent in 2024, 5.39 percent in 2025, and was further reduced by 20 basis points to 5.19 percent for 2026 under legislation enacted in 2025.

Source: 2026 Employer's Withholding Tax Guide | Important Tax Updates | 2023 Summary of Enacted Legislation

Georgia individual income tax returns are due on April 15 following the close of the tax year. For the 2025 tax year, the filing deadline is April 15, 2026. Georgia automatically grants a six-month extension to file if the taxpayer has obtained a federal extension or files Georgia Form IT-303 by the original due date, extending the deadline to October 15. An extension to file does not extend the time to pay any tax due.

Source: Important Tax Updates

Georgia allows taxpayers who do not itemize deductions to claim a standard deduction when computing taxable net income. For tax year 2025, the standard deduction is $12,000 for single filers, heads of household, qualifying surviving spouses, and married taxpayers filing separately. For married couples filing jointly, the standard deduction is $24,000. Taxpayers must choose either the standard deduction or itemized deductions when calculating Georgia taxable net income; both may not be claimed.

Source: 2025 Form 500-ES (Estimated Tax for Individuals and Fiduciaries) | Georgia Standard Deductions Increases

Georgia allows a $4,000 personal exemption for each dependent when computing Georgia taxable income, effective for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2024. The term "dependent" has the same meaning as under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. Georgia law also recognizes any unborn child with a detectable human heartbeat as a dependent, effective July 20, 2022. Personal exemptions for the taxpayer and spouse were eliminated beginning with tax year 2024.

Source: 2023 Summary of Enacted Legislation | LIFE Act Guidance

Georgia defines "resident" for personal income tax purposes under three alternative tests codified at O.C.G.A. § 48-7-1(10)(A). An individual is a resident if any one of the following three conditions is met as of the relevant income tax day (December 31 for calendar-year taxpayers):

Legal resident (domicile test) An individual is a resident if he or she is a legal resident of Georgia on income tax day. A legal resident is someone who is physically present in Georgia on December 31 with an intention to remain in Georgia indefinitely. This test turns on domicile—the permanent home to which one intends to return. Domicile is established through physical presence coupled with intent to remain, and is not lost until a new domicile is affirmatively established in another state.

More-or-less regular or permanent basis resident An individual who is not a legal resident but who nevertheless resides in Georgia on a more or less regular or permanent basis—not on the temporary or transitory basis of a visitor—and who resides in the state on income tax day is also a resident. This category captures individuals who maintain a habitual presence in Georgia without establishing formal domicile, but whose connection to the state is more than temporary.

183-day statutory resident An individual is a resident if, as of December 31, he or she has been residing in Georgia for 183 days or part-days (or longer), in the aggregate, during the immediately preceding 365-day period. Days are cumulative and need not be consecutive; partial days count as full days. Unlike the first two tests, the 183-day test does not require presence on December 31 itself—it looks back 365 days from December 31 and counts total days of presence. Individuals who meet the 183-day test are taxed as full-year residents and may not prorate their income for the portion of the year before they arrived in Georgia.

Continuing-residence presumption Under O.C.G.A. § 48-7-1(10)(B), an individual who has become a resident under the legal-resident or more-or-less-regular-basis tests is deemed to continue to be a resident until the person shows to the satisfaction of the Georgia Department of Revenue that he or she has become a legal resident or domiciliary of another state and does not come within the 183-day test. This creates a sticky presumption: once domiciled in Georgia, the burden is on the taxpayer to prove both that a new domicile has been established elsewhere and that the 183-day threshold is not exceeded. The presumption does not apply to 183-day statutory residents.

Residents are taxed on all Georgia taxable net income from all sources; nonresidents are taxed only on Georgia-source income. The distinction is foundational and determines the scope of Georgia's taxing jurisdiction over the individual.

Source: O.C.G.A. § 48-7-1(10)

Georgia requires individuals and fiduciaries to make quarterly estimated tax payments when their expected income includes more than $1,000 from sources not subject to withholding, after accounting for applicable exemptions and deductions. The requirement is designed to enable current payment of tax on income not subject to wage withholding, such as self-employment income, investment income, rental income, and retirement distributions.

Filing threshold test

An individual or fiduciary subject to Georgia income tax must file estimated tax if they reasonably expect gross income during the year to exceed the sum of: (1) applicable exemptions, plus (2) estimated deductions, plus (3) $1,000 of income not subject to withholding. The $1,000 threshold isolates the non-withholding portion of income; if non-withholding income is $1,000 or less, no estimated payment obligation arises even if total income is substantial. The test is prospective—it turns on what the taxpayer can "reasonably expect" at the start of the payment period, not on actual results.

Payment schedule and installment dates

Estimated tax may be paid in full with the first required installment or in four equal installments due on or before April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15 of the following year. These dates align with the federal estimated tax schedule. Fiscal year filers adjust the dates to the 15th day of the fourth, sixth, and ninth months of the fiscal year, and the 15th day of the first month of the following fiscal year. Payment in full by the first due date satisfies the annual obligation; quarterly installments are not mandatory if the full amount is remitted early.

Exceptions to the filing requirement

Estimated tax is not required if the taxpayer and employer agree to additional withholding sufficient to cover income that would otherwise require estimated payments. This exception permits wage earners with substantial non-wage income to avoid quarterly filings by increasing their Form G-4 withholding.

Individuals whose gross income from farming or fishing is at least two-thirds of total gross income from all sources may either file estimated tax as other taxpayers or, alternatively, file their annual return by March 1 and pay the full amount of tax due by that date without making quarterly estimated payments during the prior year.

Fiduciaries are not required to pay estimated tax for any taxable year ending before the date two years after the decedent's death. This exception recognizes the administrative burden on estates during the initial settlement period.

The estimated tax requirement does not apply in a given tax year if the sum of the allowable credits shown on the individual's income tax return for the tax year exceeds the individual's tax liability shown on the return before reduction by credits, and the individual reasonably expected at the time estimated tax was otherwise required to be filed that this condition would be met. This exception addresses taxpayers whose refundable or nonrefundable credits will eliminate tax liability entirely.

Payment methods and electronic filing mandate

Estimated tax payments may be made electronically through the Georgia Tax Center (GTC), by credit card, or by mailing Form 500-ES payment vouchers to the Georgia Department of Revenue. Under Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 560-3-2-.26(3)(a)(1), any taxpayer owing more than $10,000 in connection with any individual estimated income tax return must remit all future payments of individual estimated income tax by electronic funds transfer using the ACH debit or credit method, regardless of whether subsequent payments fall below $10,000. Once the $10,000 threshold is triggered, the electronic payment mandate continues for all future individual estimated tax payments.

Underpayment penalty

Failure to comply with the estimated tax provisions may result in assessment of additional charges as a penalty for underpayment of installments. The Form 500-ES instructions warn that underpayment of installments can trigger penalty assessments, but do not specify the penalty rate or calculation method in the form itself. Georgia law generally follows the federal framework for computing underpayment of estimated tax penalties, though practitioners should verify the specific computation rules and safe harbor provisions (such as the 90 percent of current-year liability or 100 percent of prior-year liability tests) by reference to the current-year instructions or by contacting the Georgia Department of Revenue.

Source: 2025 Form 500-ES (Estimated Tax for Individuals and Fiduciaries) | Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 560-3-2-.26