Kemp to sign tax cut bills Monday, delivering savings for Georgia families and homeowners

MGN

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp will put his signature on a pair of tax relief bills Monday that will lower income taxes, boost deductions, and give homeowners new tools to fight rising property tax bills.

Kemp’s office notified lawmakers Thursday that he planned to sign House Bill 463 and Senate Bill 33, two measures that were top priorities for Republican legislative leaders this session, though both fell short of the more sweeping tax overhaul the GOP had originally promised.

Lower income taxes and bigger deductions
House Bill 463, officially called the Georgia Economic Growth and Tax Relief Act of 2026, would cut the state’s personal income tax rate from 5.19 percent to 4.99 percent starting this year, then continue dropping by 0.125 percent annually until it reaches 3.99 percent; a faster pace than the 0.1 percent annual reduction already on the books.

At the start of the year, some Republican leaders had pushed to eliminate Georgia’s personal income tax by 2032. The approved bill doesn’t go that far, but still represents a meaningful acceleration of tax cuts for millions of Georgians.

The bill would also raise the standard deduction: the amount of income shielded from taxes before a single dollar is calculated, from $24,000 to $30,000 for married couples filing jointly, with annual increases of $750 until it reaches $36,000. Single filers would see their standard deduction jump from $12,000 to $15,000, climbing by $375 per year until it hits $18,000. Those annual increases are tied to state revenue performance and only kick in if Georgia’s tax collections grow by at least 3 percent.

Families with dependents would see their per-dependent deduction rise from $4,000 to $5,000, eventually climbing to $6,000.

Workers who earn tips or overtime pay would also see relief. From 2026 through 2028, up to $1,750 of cash tips and $1,750 of overtime pay would be exempt from state income tax.

Seniors would benefit as well, with the retirement income exclusion for those 65 and older rising from $65,000 to $70,000 starting in 2027.

To help offset the cost of the cuts, the bill eliminates several existing tax credits, including those for teleworking expenses, electric and hybrid vehicles, and manufacturers of medical equipment.

Georgia’s personal income tax is projected to bring in about $16.5 billion this year, roughly 44 percent of the state’s total general revenue. Democrats opposed the bill, arguing the cuts primarily benefit higher earners and leave the state with less money to fund essential services.

Property tax relief for homeowners
Senate Bill 33, known as the Homeownership Opportunity and Market Equalization Act of 2026, takes a different approach, targeting property taxes, which have surged across Georgia as home values have risen sharply in recent years.

The bill creates a new Local Homestead Option Sales Tax, or LHOST, which would allow local governments to use sales tax revenue to fund homestead exemptions and reduce property tax bills for homeowners. Beginning in 2028, counties and municipalities could put the LHOST to a vote and, if approved, use the proceeds exclusively to offset property taxes for qualifying homeowners.

The bill also makes the state’s existing base year homestead exemption, which caps increases in a home’s taxable assessed value, mandatory across all political subdivisions in Georgia and strengthens protections for homeowners who were incorrectly charged property taxes due to a government error.

What comes next
Both bills passed the Georgia General Assembly on the final day of the legislative session. Kemp’s signature makes them law on Monday, with the income tax provisions applying to tax years beginning Jan. 1, 2026.