--- title: HB 1298. Sales and use tax; exempt retail sale of electricity and natural gas for use by any residential property collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb1298 cite_as: HB 1298, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1298 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1298.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1298/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73175 date: 2026-02-18 status: introduced corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13 license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1297.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1299.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 129 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1298.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 1298 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: bill status_date: 2026-02-12 last_action: House Second Readers sponsors: - Charles Cannon - John Corbett - David Huddleston - Trey Kelley - Shaw Blackmon text_version: Introduced has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1298/2025 upstream_id: 2116194 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - sales tax - utility bills - residential energy costs - Georgia tax exemptions --- # HB 1298. Sales and use tax; exempt retail sale of electricity and natural gas for use by any residential property ## Text House Bill 1298 By: Representatives Cannon of the 172nd, Corbett of the 174th, Huddleston of the 72nd, Kelley of the 16th, and Blackmon of the 146th A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Title 48 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to revenue and taxation, so as to exempt the retail sale of electricity and natural gas for use by any residential property from sales and use taxes; to provide for the start date for such exemption; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: SECTION 1. Title 48 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to revenue and taxation, is amended in Code Section 48-8-3, relating to exemptions from sales and use taxes, by deleting "or" at the end of paragraph (104), by replacing the period with "; or" at the end of paragraph (105), and by adding a new paragraph to read as follows: "(106) Beginning on January 1 of the year following the repeal of paragraph (68.1) of this Code section, retail sale of electricity and natural gas for use by any residential property." SECTION 2. All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed. ## Summaries written by Georgia Commons The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary. A Georgia House bill would exempt residential electricity and natural gas purchases from state sales and use tax, but only starting the year after lawmakers repeal a separate existing exemption already on the books. ### Plain-language summary Georgia currently taxes retail sales of electricity and natural gas, including for homes, unless another specific exemption already applies. This bill adds a new exemption to Georgia's sales and use tax law (O.C.G.A. § 48-8-3) covering the retail sale of electricity and natural gas for use by any residential property. The new exemption would not take effect immediately. Instead, it is written to begin on January 1 of the year after lawmakers repeal a different, already-existing exemption found in paragraph (68.1) of the same Code section. Until that other paragraph is repealed, this new residential utility exemption would not apply. The bill also repeals any conflicting laws, a standard closing provision. ### What it does - Adds a new sales and use tax exemption in Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 48-8-3) for retail sales of electricity and natural gas used by any residential property. - Delays that exemption from taking effect until January 1 of the year following the repeal of a separate existing exemption, paragraph (68.1) of the same Code section. - Adjusts the punctuation and wording of two neighboring exemption paragraphs (104 and 105) to fit the new paragraph into the list. - Repeals any other Georgia laws that conflict with the new provision. ### Who it affects Georgia homeowners and renters who pay for electricity and natural gas would be affected, as would utility companies that collect sales tax on residential energy sales, and the Georgia Department of Revenue, which administers the sales and use tax exemption list. ### Why it matters If it ever takes effect, residential customers would stop paying sales tax on their electricity and natural gas bills, lowering monthly utility costs. But because the exemption is tied to the repeal of an unrelated existing exemption (paragraph 68.1), it may not take effect for some time, if at all. ### Key provisions - Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 48-8-3 by adding new paragraph (106), exempting retail sales of electricity and natural gas for residential property use from sales and use tax. - Section 1 sets the exemption's start date as January 1 of the year following the repeal of paragraph (68.1) of the same Code section, meaning it depends on a separate future legislative action. - Section 1 also makes small wording changes to paragraphs (104) and (105) to properly list the new exemption among existing ones. - Section 2 repeals any other Georgia laws that conflict with the new exemption. ## Status - Status: Introduced (2026-02-12) - Last action: House Second Readers (2026-02-18) - Sponsors: Charles Cannon, John Corbett, David Huddleston, Trey Kelley, Shaw Blackmon - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73175 > The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1298.md?full=1