Georgians starting to get tax refund checks

ATLANTA — Georgia taxpayers have begun receiving refunds for the second year in a row, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Monday.

House Bill 162, which the General Assembly passed in March, uses part of Georgia’s revenue surplus of more than $6 billion to pay for a refund of state income taxes from 2021.

“Georgia is once again in a position to issue surplus tax refunds thanks to years of responsible, conservative budgeting and because we chose to protect both lives and livelihoods during the pandemic,” Kemp said.

Single filers and married taxpayers who file separately will receive refunds of up to $250. Head of household filers will get a maximum refund of $375, while married taxpayers filing jointly will receive up to $500.

Taxpayers who were claimed as a dependent and had a tax liability in 2021 also are eligible for the refund.

As was the case last year, filers must have paid and filed taxes for the prior two years to qualify for the tax refund.

Georgia Commissioner of Revenue Frank O’Connell said most of the 2022 tax refunds were issued by last July.

The revenue department anticipates all refunds for those who filed by the April 18 deadline this year will be issued within the next eight weeks.

Refunds will not be issued until a taxpayer’s 2022 returns have been processed. Taxpayers who received a filing extension will not get their refunds until their returns have been filed.

This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with Capitol Beat.