Gov. Kemp announces tax rebate for Georgians in 2025
ATLANTA - Gov. Brian Kemp has announced plans for a tax rebate for Georgians in the upcoming year.
The governor was joined by first lady Marty Kemp, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, Speaker of the House Jon Burns, and members of the General Assembly on Tuesday afternoon to make the announcement about the rebate at the State Capitol.
Kemp said he and other officials decided to push for the rebate to help Georgians recover and rebuild from the recent hurricanes that left millions of dollars in damage in the state.
"The people up here share a fundamental belief. It’s something I’ve said before, and now I’m going to say it again: This isn’t the government’s money, it’s yours," Kemp said.
Brian Kemp, governor of Georgia, during a Bloomberg Television interview on day two of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024. (Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The proposed rebate would return $250 for single Georgians, $375 for single heads of households, and $500 for married couples filing jointly.
Kemp estimated the rebate would save taxpayers more than $1 billion - making the total returned through previous tax rebates and grants more than $6.6 billion.
Officials say the one-time rebate would go through the amended budget.
The governor said the rebate proposal was the first plan in the works to help give relief to Georgians hit by the storms.
"Today’s announcement is not the end of our search for policies that will give relief, especially to those impacted by the recent hurricanes," he said. "In the coming weeks, my team will continue our conversations with legislative leaders on how we can best help those who were hit hard by the storms."
Previous Georgia tax changes in 2024
In April, Kemp signed a series of tax bills that lowered the income tax rate from 5.49% to 5.39% and reduced income taxes for corporations.
The governor also approved increasing the state's child tax credit from $3,000 to $4,000 for each dependent.
Kemp has previously expressed his intention to reduce the tax rate to 5% in the future.
"Stay tuned for the second Monday in January," he said.