Georgia Senate Passes Income Tax Reduction Package

Georgia state senators passed four bills reducing the state income tax Thursday, rapidly advancing the legislative package to the House.

Late last week, senators introduced two bills to advance the first part of a plan to eventually eliminate the state personal income tax by 2032, as recommended by a special Senate committee appointed by Republican Lt. Gov. Burt Jones last summer.

“I am proud to deliver on my promise to put money back in the pockets of Georgia’s families and our state economy,” Jones said in a press release after Thursday’s votes. “The Senate is leading the effort to continue making significant cuts to our income taxes, while maintaining the fiscal soundness of our state. I look forward to working with the House and Governor on how to maximize tax relief and get an income tax cut over the finish line immediately.”

Jones and the committee’s chair, state Sen. Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia, have made income tax cuts a cornerstone of their 2026 campaigns for governor and lieutenant governor, respectively.

“The people outside this building, and inside it now, too, said that affordability is the word of the session,” Tillery said. “Folks in the middle class, they feel like they’re being squeezed out.”

The bills lowering income tax in Georgia

Senate Bills 476 and 477 do not end the personal income tax in Georgia, but they do reduce income taxes in the meantime.

SB 476 would deduct $50,000 from individual filers’ taxable net income and $100,000 from joint filers’ taxable net income. The bill also sunsets all income tax credits by 2032 and repeals a long list of corporate and other tax credits in order to pay for the tax cuts.

SB 476 passed 32 to 18.

Under SB 477, the personal income tax would decrease from the current 5.19% flat rate to 4.99% for tax year 2026, then 4.49% for tax year 2027 and 3.99% for 2028, unless the state’s revenue does not exceed last year’s revenue by 1%. The corporate income tax would also be lowered to 4.99%.

Tillery, the author of both bills, said he prefers SB 476 because it’s “tailored to the middle class,” but introduced SB 477 in case the House preferred it.

“And the reason that we’re presenting this bill as well, is because we cannot be sure that our friends across the hall are as focused on affordability for the middle class as we are. So while that is my preference, I cannot allow perfect to be the enemy of good,” he said.

SB 477 passed 31 to 14.

Then, on Monday, the Senate Finance Committee passed the two Senate Bills, as well as substitutes to HB 134 and HB 463 that replaced their proposals with the language of SB 476 and SB 477, respectively, to avoid any procedural challenges; legislation concerning budget and revenue must come from the House first.

HB 134 passed 31 to 17, and HB 463 passed 32 to 14.

A long debate saw lawmakers split down their parties’ philosophical differences — between further funding government services and returning extra revenue directly to taxpayers.

Tillery has framed his plan to sunset and repeal tax credits as an opposition to big business, since some of those tax credits target insurance companies, banks, and data centers.

“The line is clear. Where do you stand? I stand with those families making less than $100,000, and a yes vote fully supports them. But if you vote no today, and cast a red vote on the board? Well, you stand with those and support those who are the losers here,” Tillery said, referring to big businesses.

Democratic state Sen. Nikki Merritt called SB 476 a “middle-class tax hike.”

“The majority, Senate Republicans, are finally admitting what Georgians have been living with every single day: An affordability crisis that has developed on their watch,” Merritt said. “But instead of delivering a real solution and real relief, this scam bill creates a massive hole in our state budget. It’s going to be a hole so deep that it will swallow the services that everyday families rely on.”

Democrats raise procedural objections

Before debate began for SB 476 on Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Jason Anavitarte, R-Dallas made a motion to engross SB 477 and SB 476, which prevents amendments to the bills in committee or on the floor.

State Sen. Derek Mallow, D-Savannah, and state Sen. David Lucas, D-Macon, said engrossing these bills does not allow Democrats to have a role in shaping the bill.

“There should’ve been a much larger, more robust debate to allow for public comment and testimony on legislation that will impact every single Georgian from all 159 counties. And now that we have moved them to engrossment, the minority caucus is yet again excluded from participating or negotiating on how these bills will impact our state,” Mallow said.

“The majority party will decide everything for the state, and so, for those of rest who represent other constituencies, our constituencies and what they’re going through and what they may experience and what their financial hardships are — really don’t matter because you got it figured out. The majority party has it all figured out,” he added.

Democratic state Sen. Randal Mangham lamented the inability to amend proposals in SB 476 that repeal tax credits benefiting businesses.

Anavitarte, the Senate majority leader, called the objections “disingenuous” because the special Senate committee that recommended the income reduction plan included Democrats, though some had opposed the plan.

The motion to engross passed 31 to 21.

Minority Whip Kim Jackson also asked Jones, the president of the Senate, to rule on whether debate on SB 476 could continue because there was no fiscal note. Bills that would have a significant impact on state revenue receive a fiscal note from the Office of Planning and Budget and the Department of Audits and Accounts that estimates changes in revenue.

Jones said Tillery, who also chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, “was pretty clear about where he’s getting his numbers from” and continued the debate.

“If this plan could withstand public scrutiny, it would not have been rushed through committee without real debate, without a fiscal note, or any bipartisan input,” Merritt said.