During the 2025 legislative session, the Georgia General Assembly passed several notable tax related bills including further decreasing the income tax rate and extending the time period for taxpayers to protest and appeal the Department of Revenue’s assessments. Additionally, the legislature passed clean-up legislation to clarify procedural elements of the new Georgia Tax Court which will begin operations in 2026. Within 40 days (May 14, 2025), the Governor may sign or veto legislation that the legislature passed. If the Governor does not act, the bills become law.
The Georgia legislative session is two years. While the 2025 legislative session ended on April 4, 2025, bills that were introduced this session may still pass in the second year of the legislative session. A few of the tax bills to watch in 2026 are also described below.
Bills of Note that Passed Both Chambers
Income Tax
HB 111 – Reducing the Income Tax Rate. This bill accelerates the state income tax rate reduction by reducing the rate from 5.39% to 5.19% for the 2025 tax year. Consistent with prior legislation, the tax rate will continue to decrease by 0.10% annually until it reaches 4.99%. This income tax rate is equal for individual and corporate taxpayers.
HB 112 – One-Time Tax Credit for Individual Taxpayers. This bill provides individual Georgians with income tax rebates between $250 and $500 if they paid income taxes in the 2023 and 2024 tax years.
HB 290 – Annual IRC Conformity Bill. Georgia has static conformity, meaning that the Georgia code conforms to the federal Internal Revenue Code as of a specific date. The Georgia legislature must annually pass legislation updating Georgia law to the latest version of the IRC and may choose to decouple from federal changes during the prior year. This bill updates Georgia’s income tax law to conform with the federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as updated through January 1, 2024, without decoupling from any federal changes over the prior year.
HB 223 – Excluding Hurricane Helene Relief Grants from Taxable Income. This bill excludes from Georgia taxable income any income received as payments from a federal disaster relief program or the US Department of Agriculture for the 2025 through 2029 tax years.
Tax Court and Procedure
SB 141 – Extending the Appeal and Protest Period for Tax Assessments. This bill extends the time for taxpayers to protest proposed assessments and denials of refund claims from 30 days to 45 days. It also changes the time to appeal most final assessments to the Georgia Tax Tribunal or superior court from 30 days to 45 days.
HB 392 – Georgia Tax Court Clean Up Bill. In November 2024, Georgia voters approved a constitutional amendment to create a new Georgia Tax Court, beginning in 2026. The new court will improve on the existing Tax Tribunal (which is in the administrative branch) by expediting the full appeal process, providing jurisdiction of all issues—including constitutional questions, and promoting judicial independence from the Department of Revenue. Read more about this in last year’s Georgia legislation session legal alert. HB 392 makes some clean-ups before the Tax Court starts operations. It changes the date on which persons may begin petitioning the Georgia Tax Court, from August 1, 2026, to July 1, 2026. Cases pending before the Georgia Tax Tribunal as of June 30, 2026 will be automatically transferred to the Tax Court, while current law requires a taxpayer to request the transfer.
Bills Not Passed this Session
HB 141 - Allows CPA Affidavits for Municipal Occupation Tax in Lieu of Tax Returns. This bill would permit a business or practitioner to provide affidavits of certified public accountants instead of tax returns or other financial information to local governments in verifying their local occupation tax liability under O.C.G.A. § 48-13-14.
HB 559 – Last year, Governor Kemp vetoed a bill that would have suspended the existing data center exemption under O.C.G.A. § 48-8-3(68.1). This bill would have sunset the exemption at the end of 2026. However, the bill never received a hearing in committee.
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