HB79: HB79 Firearm Safe Handling and Secure Storage Tax Credit Act; enact

Georgia currently offers no tax credit for firearm safety training. HB 79 would add a new section to Georgia's tax code (O.C.G.A. § 48-7-29.11A) letting individual taxpayers claim a credit against their state income tax for the cost of an in-person firearm safe handling course lasting at least two hours. The credit equals the taxpayer's actual course cost or $300, whichever is smaller. Taxpayers would have to apply to the Georgia Department of Revenue for preapproval before claiming the credit, and approvals would be granted first-come, first-served until the statewide $10 million annual cap is reached. Taxpayers must keep receipts for three years. The credit cannot exceed a taxpayer's tax bill, cannot be carried forward or applied to past years, and the whole program would automatically expire on December 31, 2031. It would take effect January 1, 2027.

• Creates a new Georgia income tax credit worth the lesser of a taxpayer's course cost or $300 for taking a firearm safe handling instructional course.
• Caps the total amount of these tax credits statewide at $10 million per year, distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Requires taxpayers to apply to the Department of Revenue for preapproval before claiming the credit, specifying the tax year.
• Bans anyone from creating a list or database of people who applied for or received the credit, except as needed to administer it.
• Sets an automatic repeal date of December 31, 2031, ending the program unless renewed.
• Requires taxpayers to keep receipts for eligible expenses for three years and make them available to the commissioner on request.

Individual Georgia taxpayers who take a qualifying firearm safety course, firearm training instructors and course providers, and the Georgia Department of Revenue, which must build a preapproval application system and enforce the annual funding cap.

Georgians who complete a two-hour or longer firearm safety course could get up to $300 off their state income taxes, but only if they apply for preapproval in time, since the statewide $10 million pool is awarded first-come, first-served each year and could run out.

• Section 1 names the law the 'Firearm Safe Handling Tax Credit Act.'
• Section 2 adds O.C.G.A. § 48-7-29.11A, defining 'eligible expenses,' 'firearm,' and 'firearm safe handling instructional course' as at least two hours of in-person training.
• Subsection (b) sets the credit at the lesser of actual costs or $300 and caps total statewide credits at $10 million per year.
• Subsection (c) requires Department of Revenue preapproval, processed within 30 days in the order applications are received, with denials once yearly funds run out.
• Subsection (d) requires taxpayers to keep receipts for three years for possible review by the commissioner.
• Subsection (e) bars carrying unused credit forward or applying it to prior years, and limits the credit to no more than the taxpayer's tax liability.
• Subsection (f) prohibits creating lists of people who applied for or received the credit outside of administering the program.
• Subsection (h) repeals the entire Code section on December 31, 2031. Section 3 sets the effective date as January 1, 2027.

1. 2026-03-27Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
2. 2026-03-23Senate Recommitted (Senate)
3. 2026-03-23Senate Third Read (Senate)
4. 2026-02-03Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
5. 2026-01-12Senate Recommitted (Senate)
6. 2026-01-12Senate Taken from Table (Senate)
7. 2025-04-02Senate Tabled (Senate)
8. 2025-04-02Senate Engrossed (Senate)

• Mark Newton (R, HD-127)Primary sponsor
• Sharon Cooper (R, HD-045)
• Matt Reeves (R, HD-099)
• Scott Hilton (R, HD-048)
• Deborah Silcox (R, HD-053)
• Sandy Donatucci (R, HD-105)
• Jason Anavitarte (R, SD-031)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 4, 2025

   165 yea, 8 nay (2 not voting, 5 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #165

2. PassedSenate voteApril 2, 2025

   31 yea, 24 nay (0 not voting, 1 absent)

   Motion To Engross: Sb 214, Hb 66, Hb 79, Hb 129, Hb 134, Hb 141, Hb 370, Hb 397, Hb 445, Hb 463, Hb 532, Hb 586, Hb 652: Senate Vote #383

• gun safety training
• state income tax credits
• firearm laws
• Georgia Department of Revenue