Gov. Brian Kemp signs the amended budget for fiscal year 2026, which funds the government through June, at the signing ceremony on March 3, 2026 at the state Capitol in Atlanta. Alander Rocha/Georgia Recorder
The Georgia Senate gave final passage to a measure providing up to $500 in income tax rebates to Georgians who filed state income tax returns in both 2025 and 2024.
HB 1000, sponsored by Cartersville Republican state Rep. Matthew Gambill, passed the Senate Monday with a 53-0 vote. Once signed by the governor, the state Department of Revenue will determine when Georgians could get the rebate, which will be $250 for single filers, $375 for head of households and $500 for married couples filing jointly.
“This was something that we’ve done four times in a row now. We have a surplus. We give that money back to the taxpayer who truly owns the money,” Cornelia Republican state Sen. Bo Hatchett, who is one of the governor’s floor leaders, said to reporters after the bill’s passage.
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The bill passed without debate on the Senate floor after unanimously passing the House earlier this month. It now heads to the governor’s desk.
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Democrats supported the one-time rebates because it’s a “common sense” measure that does not “gut the budget,” said Senate Minority Leader Harold Jones.
“It doesn’t go as far as some of these other bills that have been out there, but we were proud to vote for it and give Georgians an opportunity to kind of take advantage of some of the things we deal with Capitol. So, it helped them, (and) I think it’s good. I think it’s a good day,” Harold said.
The one-time rebate will cost the state nearly $1.1 billion, according to a legislative fiscal note. The rebates were a priority for Kemp, who in his final State of the State speech in January called for the fourth round of one-time rebates under his administration.
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