---
title: HB 479. Income tax; allow for tax credits in excess of the amount that can be claimed in a given year to be carried forward to subsequent years
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb479
cite_as: HB 479, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb479
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb479.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb479/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70399
date: 2025-02-20
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/hb478.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb480.md
index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 129
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb479.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 479
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-02-18
last_action: House Second Readers
sponsors:
- John Carson
- Matt Dubnik
- Trey Kelley
- Kasey Carpenter
- Clint Crowe
- Ginny Ehrhart
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB479/2025
upstream_id: 1974353
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- income tax credits
- student scholarship organizations
- rural hospitals
- law enforcement funding
- foster care
---
# HB 479. Income tax; allow for tax credits in excess of the amount that can be claimed in a given year to be carried forward to subsequent years
## Text
House Bill 479
By: Representatives Carson of the 46th, Dubnik of the 29th, Kelley of the 16th, Carpenter of
the 4th, Crowe of the 118th, and others
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Article 2 of Chapter 7 of Title 48 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to the imposition, rate, computation, exemptions, and credits relative to income
taxes, so as to allow for tax credits in excess of the amount that can be claimed in a given
year to be carried forward to subsequent years; to provide for related matters; to provide for
an effective date and applicability; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Article 2 of Chapter 7 of Title 48 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the
imposition, rate, computation, exemptions, and credits relative to income taxes, is amended
by revising subsection (c) of Code Section 48-7-29.16, relating to tax credits for
contributions to student scholarship organizations, as follows:
"(c) A corporation or other entity shall be allowed a credit against the tax imposed by this
chapter for qualified education expenses in an amount not to exceed the actual amount
expended or 75 percent of the corporation's such entity's estimated income tax liability, as
provided to the department under paragraph (3) of subsection (f) of this Code section,
whichever is less."
SECTION 2.
Said article is further amended by revising subsection (c) of Code Section 48-7-29.20,
relating to tax credits for contributions to rural hospital organizations, as follows:
"(c) A corporation or other entity shall be allowed a credit against the tax imposed by this
chapter for qualified rural hospital organization expenses in an amount not to exceed the
actual amount expended or 75 percent of the corporation's such entity's estimated income
tax liability, as provided to the department under paragraph (3) of subsection (e) of this
Code section, whichever is less."
SECTION 3.
Said article is further amended by revising subsection (c) of Code Section 48-7-29.21,
relating to tax credits for donations to nonprofit corporations awarding grants to public
schools, as follows:
"(c) A corporation or other entity shall be allowed a credit against the tax imposed by this
chapter for qualified education donations in an amount not to exceed the actual amount
donated or 75 percent of the corporation's such entity's estimated income tax liability, as
provided to the department under paragraph (3) of subsection (f) of this Code section,
whichever is less."
SECTION 4.
Said article is further amended by revising paragraph (4) of subsection (b.1) of Code Section
48-7-29.24, relating to tax credits for contributions to foster child support organizations, as
follows:
"(4) In the case of a corporation or other entity not provided for in paragraphs (1)
through (3) of this subsection, 10 percent of such entity's estimated income tax liability,
as provided to the department under paragraph (1) of subsection (e) of this Code section."
SECTION 5.
Said article is further amended by revising subparagraph (b)(2)(D) of Code Section
48-7-29.25, relating to tax credits for contributions to law enforcement foundations, as
follows:
"(D) A corporation or other entity not provided for in subparagraphs (A) through (C)
of this paragraph shall be allowed a credit against the tax imposed by this chapter, for
qualified contributions in an amount not to exceed the actual amount of qualified
contributions made or 75 percent of such corporation's or other entity's estimated
income tax liability, as provided to the department under paragraph (1) of subsection (e)
of this Code section, whichever is less."
SECTION 6.
This Act shall become effective on July 1, 2025, and shall be applicable to all taxable years
beginning on or after January 1, 2026.
SECTION 7.
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.
House Bill 479 would change how several Georgia tax credit programs calculate the cap on credits by using an entity's estimated income tax liability, reported to the Department of Revenue, instead of after-the-fact actual liability.
### Plain-language summary
Georgia offers several income tax credits for contributions to specific causes, including student scholarship organizations, rural hospital organizations, nonprofit school grant organizations, foster child support organizations, and law enforcement foundations. Each program caps the credit at a percentage (75 percent or 10 percent, depending on the program) of the contributing entity's income tax liability.
This bill rewrites five sections of Georgia's tax code (O.C.G.A. §§ 48-7-29.16, 48-7-29.20, 48-7-29.21, 48-7-29.24, and 48-7-29.25) so that the cap is based on the entity's estimated income tax liability, as reported to the Department of Revenue, rather than the corporation's actual liability. It also broadens the language from 'corporation' to 'such entity,' covering other business structures like partnerships or LLCs that pay under this chapter. The changes would take effect July 1, 2025, and apply to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2026.
### What it does
- Replaces 'the corporation's income tax liability' with 'such entity's estimated income tax liability' as the basis for calculating the cap on five separate tax credit programs.
- Requires entities to report their estimated income tax liability to the Department of Revenue as part of claiming these credits.
- Broadens each credit provision from applying only to 'corporations' to applying to 'such entity,' extending eligibility language to other business entity types.
- Sets the changes to take effect July 1, 2025, applying to tax years starting on or after January 1, 2026.
### Who it affects
Businesses and other entities that claim Georgia income tax credits for donations to student scholarship organizations, rural hospital organizations, nonprofit school grant programs, foster child support organizations, or law enforcement foundations, along with the Georgia Department of Revenue, which administers these credits.
### Why it matters
By basing the credit cap on an estimated tax liability reported upfront to the state rather than actual liability determined later, entities and the Department of Revenue would calculate allowable credits differently, which could affect how much businesses can claim and how the department verifies those claims.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 48-7-29.16 (student scholarship organization credits) to base the 75 percent cap on 'such entity's estimated income tax liability' reported to the department.
- Section 2 makes the same change to O.C.G.A. § 48-7-29.20 for rural hospital organization credits.
- Section 3 makes the same change to O.C.G.A. § 48-7-29.21 for donations to nonprofits that award grants to public schools.
- Section 4 revises O.C.G.A. § 48-7-29.24 to apply the 10 percent cap for foster child support organization credits to an entity's estimated liability reported to the department.
- Section 5 revises O.C.G.A. § 48-7-29.25 to apply the same estimated-liability standard to law enforcement foundation credits.
- Section 6 sets the effective date as July 1, 2025, applicable to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2026.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2025-02-18)
- Last action: House Second Readers (2025-02-20)
- Sponsors: John Carson, Matt Dubnik, Trey Kelley, Kasey Carpenter, Clint Crowe, Ginny Ehrhart
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70399
> The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb479.md?full=1