Georgia's Flat Tax Dropped to 4.99% for 2026
Georgia finished converting from graduated brackets to a single flat rate, and that rate fell from 5.19% in 2025 to 4.99% effective January 1, 2026, with lawmakers signaling further cuts if state revenue targets hold. The shift means every Georgia earner now pays the same marginal rate regardless of income. For wage earners, the combination of a lower rate and a larger standard deduction makes 2026 a meaningfully cheaper tax year than 2025 at the same salary.
The 2026 Standard Deduction Jump
Alongside the rate cut, Georgia raised its standard deduction for 2026 to $16,000 for single filers and $32,000 for married couples, up from $12,000 and $24,000. A single filer earning $80,000 now has $64,000 of Georgia taxable income and owes about $3,194, an effective state rate near 4.0%. The bigger deduction shelters more income at the bottom, so the effective rate sits well below the 4.99% headline rate for most workers.
Georgia's Retirement Income Exclusion
Georgia excludes a large slice of retirement income from state tax: up to $35,000 for filers aged 62 to 64, and up to $65,000 for those 65 and older (rising to $70,000 in 2027). The exclusion covers pensions, retirement-account withdrawals, interest, dividends, and capital gains up to the cap. It is one of the more generous retiree provisions among income-tax states and a key reason Georgia draws older workers who are still earning while beginning to tap retirement accounts.
No Local Income Tax in Georgia
Georgia cities and counties do not levy their own income taxes, so the flat 4.99% state rate is your entire sub-federal wage tax. That makes Georgia markedly simpler than Ohio, with its municipal-tax patchwork, or Pennsylvania, with its local Earned Income Tax. What you see at the state level is what you pay, no city tax, no school-district income tax, no surprises on the local line of your stub.
Planning Around Georgia's Flat Rate
A flat rate paired with a larger deduction means a traditional 401(k) dollar saves a clean 4.99% in state tax on top of your federal bracket, with no bracket-shifting to chase. For workers approaching 62 or 65, the retirement income exclusion makes the timing of traditional-versus-Roth withdrawals especially worth modeling, shifting income into the years when the exclusion applies can wipe out the state tax on a sizable chunk of it. Use the calculator above to see how each pre-tax dollar changes your Georgia take-home pay.
From Six Brackets to One: Georgia's Flat-Tax Transition
Georgia's flat rate is recent. The state ran a graduated schedule topping out at 5.75% until House Bill 1437 converted it to a single flat rate, starting at 5.49% in 2024 and stepping down over time toward a long-run target of 4.99%, subject to revenue triggers. Georgia then accelerated that schedule: legislation in 2026 set the rate at 4.99% for the 2026 tax year, ahead of the 5.19% that had been on the books. For a worker, the practical effect is that everyone now pays the same marginal rate, and 2026 is a cheaper tax year than 2025 was at the same salary, both because the rate fell and because the standard deduction rose.
Georgia's Standard Deduction and a Simpler Return
The move to a flat tax came with a larger standard deduction, $16,000 for single filers and $32,000 for married couples filing jointly in 2026, up from $12,000 and $24,000. The reform also folded away the old separate personal exemption for the taxpayer, simplifying the math: subtract the standard deduction, apply 4.99%, and dependents still reduce taxable income. Because the deduction shelters a meaningful slice at the bottom, a typical worker's effective rate sits well under the 4.99% headline, closer to 4% on a middle salary.
Setting Withholding and Filing: G-4 and Form 500
Georgia withholding is set on Form G-4, the state employee's withholding allowance certificate, which is separate from the federal W-4. Residents file Form 500 (or the short Form 500EZ) by April 15, e-filed through the Georgia Tax Center. With a single flat rate there are no brackets to plan around at filing, so the main levers are the standard deduction, the retirement exclusion if you qualify by age, and any pre-tax payroll contributions that lower both your federal and Georgia taxable income.
No State Disability or Paid-Leave Payroll Tax
Unlike California, New Jersey, New York, Washington, or Massachusetts, Georgia runs no state disability insurance or paid-family-leave program funded by an employee payroll deduction. There is also no local income tax anywhere in the state. The practical result is one of the cleanest stubs in the country: the only state line is Georgia income tax withholding, with federal income tax and FICA alongside it. What you compute at the state level is exactly what comes out, which makes Georgia take-home pay easy to estimate once you know the flat rate and your deduction.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA) are federal, so they come out the same in Georgia as in every other state. The main Paycheck Calculator walks through the full federal side, including the Social Security wage base and the Additional Medicare surtax.