Georgia retirement income tax (2026)

How Georgia taxes retirement income

Georgia taxes income at one flat rate, 4.99%, whatever the amount and filing status^[1].

Before the rate applies, the simulator subtracts a standard deduction of $30,000 on a joint return ($15,000 single). It applies no personal exemption.

Social Security benefits are exempt from Georgia income tax: none of the benefit enters the state base, as in 22 of the 24 states covered here that tax income.

From age 65, each person can exclude up to $65,000 a year of IRA, 401(k) and pension distributions, so a couple can exclude up to $130,000 when each spouse has that much. In the worked examples the couple’s distributions are split evenly between the spouses, so each spouse’s cap applies to half. This break also covers interest, dividends and capital gains, and the simulator applies it that way, giving each spouse half of the couple’s investment income. Wages are not covered in the simulator.

Long-term capital gains and qualified dividends are taxed as ordinary income, at the same rates.

Put together, the example couple below owes $0 in Georgia, the lowest bill among the 24 states covered here that tax income, shared with 7 other states.

2026 rate

One rate, 4.99%, applies to all taxable income for every filing status; there are no brackets.

Worked example

A retired couple, both 67, filing jointly, with $48,000 of Social Security, $40,000 of IRA withdrawals and a $20,000 pension. The figures are computed when the page is built, by the same state-tax function the simulator runs.

The couple’s next $1,000 of IRA withdrawals would add $0 of Georgia tax.

A single retiree, 67, with half those amounts ($24,000 of Social Security, $20,000 of IRA withdrawals, a $10,000 pension) owes $0, 0.00% of gross income.

Age matters here: if both spouses were 63, below the exclusion age of 65, the same income would owe $1,497, which is $1,497 more than at 67.

As IRA withdrawals rise

The same couple, with Social Security and the pension unchanged, taking more from their IRAs (a larger withdrawal, a required minimum distribution or a Roth conversion all count as distributions here):

Neighbouring states

The example couple’s state tax in Georgia and in the neighbouring states covered here, same income and ages:

Against Georgia, the couple would pay more in Alabama (+$1,825), North Carolina (+$1,377); the same in Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina. With $200,000 of IRA withdrawals instead of $40,000, they would owe $2,994 in Georgia, against Florida ($0), Alabama ($9,825), Tennessee ($0), North Carolina ($7,761), South Carolina ($7,370).

What this page leaves out

What the simulator does and does not handle for Georgia, item by item^[1]:

• Flat 4.99% for tax year 2026 (HB 463, signed 2026-05-11; down from 5.19% in 2025).
• From 2027 the statute steps the rate down 0.125 point a year toward 3.99%, each step conditional on revenue tests (Governor’s revenue estimate, prior-year collections, Revenue Shortfall Reserve) and held at 4.99% here.
• $30,000 married filing jointly / $15,000 single standard deduction.
• Social Security exempt.
• $65,000/person retirement-income exclusion at 65+ for 2026 (rises to $70,000 from 2027; $35,000 for 62–64 ignored).
• The exclusion covers retirement distributions, pensions, interest, dividends and capital gains (each spouse takes half of joint investment income), but not the $5,000 of earned income the state also allows.
• Gains taxed as ordinary income.

In every state the simulator also leaves out credits, itemized deductions, deductions that phase out with income, local income taxes, surtaxes and any deduction for federal tax paid. It holds state amounts fixed and does not index them for inflation.

See it over a full plan

Related

• All 33 states compared
• State taxes in retirement: the exemptions that change the map
• The Social Security tax torpedo
• The RMD bomb: how pre-tax savings become forced income
• Roth ladder: how a Roth conversion ladder works
• Taxes in retirement: the topic guide
• Marginal-rate map (federal and state tax on the next dollar)