Sen. Blake Tillery, a Vidalia Republican who is is also running for lieutenant governor, discusses the Senate’s proposal to reduce the state’s income tax in a Senate Finance committee in Atlanta on Feb. 9, 2026. Alander Rocha/Georgia Recorder
Georgia Senate Republicans unveiled a sweeping plan to cut hundreds of millions in corporate tax credits while completely eliminating income taxes for some Georgians and cutting it for others.
Senate Bill 476, sponsored by Vidalia Republican Sen. Blake Tillery, who is currently running for lieutenant governor, would align with Gov. Brian Kemp’s recommended accelerated reduction in the state’s income tax to 4.99%. But his plan would also waive income taxes for all Georgians on up to $50,000 a year for individuals and $100,000 for married couples, which Tillery said would completely eliminate income taxes for roughly two-thirds of Georgians.
The proposed legislation would also cut a number of corporate tax credits, such as a costly credit given to data centers in Georgia, tax credits given to insurance companies and banks, a tobacco export tax credit, a number of credits adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic aimed at increasing available personal protective equipment and ventilators, as well as a tax credit for selling yacht parts.
“You see that we end quite a few corporate credits — corporate welfare, let’s call it what it is. Why should a family have to pay sales tax for a laptop when their kids are going to Kennesaw State, but if they buy $15 million worth of computers because they’re building a data center, they pay no sales tax at all,” Tillery said.
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Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, a Rome Republican, indicated that Kemp may be more open to eliminating the data center tax credit after he vetoed similar legislation previously. Hufstetler said the “dynamics have changed,” adding that the cost of this tax credit has increased significantly over the years while the benefits have decreased, pointing to a recent audit that found about 70% of current data center investment in Georgia would likely have occurred regardless of the tax break.
Responding to concerns about whether cutting special interest tax credits would hurt Georgia’s economy, Tillery said the proposals are about more “than just Georgia remaining competitive,” saying that it’s meant to help Georgians pay for everyday essentials at a time of rising prices. Senators also introduced another bill, Senate Bill 477, also sponsored by Tillery, that would reduce the state income tax to 3.99% by 2028. But it does not slash special interest tax incentives like the other proposal does, and it only exempts up to $16,000 a year for individuals and $32,000 for married couples in income tax, a 33% percent increase from current levels.
Tillery, who chaired a Senate study committee on eliminating the state income tax, said that the goal is still to completely eliminate it by 2032, and that either or both bills would help the state achieve it.
“What we wanted to do is be prudent. Because you’ve heard everyone across the hall say, ‘Be prudent on these things, be prudent.’ Well, if you want us to be prudent, we’ll be prudent, but the plan from the Senate is still to be at 0% in six years,” Tillery said. “It would take another bill.”
In the other chamber, House lawmakers are fast-tracking an incremental income tax proposal backed by Kemp. That measure would accelerate an already planned income tax cut, taking the rate from 5.19% to 4.99%, and cost the state more than $750 million in future revenues.
A separate House measure, sponsored by Rep. Shaw Blackmon, a Bonaire Republican who chairs that chamber’s tax-writing committee, paves the way for the income tax rate to gradually drop to 3.99% so long as certain economic conditions are met. That bill is on the move, too.
But a part of the governor’s tax relief package hit a snag last week when the House replaced another round of rebates with a tax break for homeowners. A measure approving the rebates, which would cost about $1.2 billion, had a public airing at a House subcommittee meeting Monday but did not advance alongside the other Kemp-backed tax cut bill.
“I trust the leadership of our House and the governor to work that out and figure out what we need to do,” Rep. Matthew Gambill, a Cartersville Republican and one of the governor’s floor leaders, told his colleagues Monday. “I think the great thing is we’re having a conversation about two things that ultimately will benefit Georgians and support tax relief.”
Georgia Recorder editor Jill Nolin contributed to this report.
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