A Democratic state legislator filed a bill in late November for the upcoming legislative session that would eliminate the state’s income tax by 2025.
Georgia State Representative Eric Bell (D-Jonesboro) filed HB 559 to “repeal the state income tax in its entirety,” along with any tax credits or conflicting laws. Just two pages long, Bell’s bill would declare, “For taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2025, no income taxes whatsoever shall be levied or collected by the state or any political subdivision thereof and no income tax returns shall be required to be filed for such taxable years.”
Bell’s bill was filed days before Governor Brian Kemp (R) announced his own plan to “accelerate” a planned reduction in the state’s income tax, which Republicans successfully transformed into a flat tax rate with the governor’s support.
If Georgia lawmakers pass Kemp’s proposed legislation, state taxpayers would see their income tax rate reduced to 5.39 percent, which is lower than the 5.49 percent set by HB 1437 in 2022. Kemp said the state is “well-positioned” to advance the schedule of tax cuts determined in that law and urged legislators to take up his effort in the upcoming legislative session.
Lt. Governor Burt Jones (R) called Kemp’s proposal “a great step toward ultimately eliminating” the state’s income tax in a post on X, formerly Twitter, in which he added that removing the tax is a “top priority.”
Today’s announcement is a great step toward ultimately eliminating GA’s income tax, a top priority of mine. Along with this initiative & the work of the Joint Tax Review Panel, I know we will identify additional ways to give more money back to hardworking Georgians. #gapol pic.twitter.com/Ih5OrJ7Wey
— Lt. Governor Burt Jones (@LtGovJonesGA) December 4, 2023
In a statement, Jones noted that “conservatives” are “guided by the principle that tax dollars belong to those who earned them” and added that “conservative leadership is once again lowering taxes on hardworking Georgians.”
Georgia accrued nearly $11 billion in cash reserves by October when the State Accounting Office published its annual report. The agency revealed Georgia also has almost $5.4 billion in its rainy day fund, which is the state’s constitutional limit, and $2.1 billion in its lottery reserve fund. The surplus can be used for any appropriated for any purpose.
More recently, the Georgia Department of Labor reported the state’s unemployment rate remained at 3.4 percent for the third month in a row in November. The report followed a prediction from Terry College of Business Dean Ben Ayres, who told attendees at a 2024 Georgia Economic Outlook event that Georgia “is well positioned to weather an economic slowdown” and will likely experience a “soft landing” and “outperform” the rest of the country, should the economy cool.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Eric Bell” by State Representative Eric Bell, II.
