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House · Engrossed · 2025-2026 Regular Session

HB 874: Georgia Taxpayer Privacy Protection Act; enact

Last action March 19, 2026 · Senate Read Second Time

House Bill 874 would bar Georgia tax officials from including taxpayers' phone numbers in property tax rolls, assessment records, or any data sold, shared, or disclosed to third parties.

Read the full bill text

These buttons carry the bill's own text, not the summaries below. Copy for LLM, View as markdown, and Send to AI use the Markdown version: the text as filed, then the summaries under a heading that names them as ours. View raw is the text alone.

The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Comm Sub version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.

In plain language

Georgia property tax records are largely public under the state's open records law, but this bill targets one specific piece of information in those records: taxpayers' telephone numbers. The bill finds that phone numbers included in bulk property tax data sales serve no real public transparency purpose and can be misused for solicitation, fraud, and identity theft. The bill adds a new section to Georgia's tax code barring anyone from including a taxpayer's phone number in a tax roll, assessment record, or other publicly accessible property tax document, whether physical or electronic, including data sold to third parties or released through open records requests. Exceptions apply for internal government use in tax collection, court-ordered disclosures, and cases where the taxpayer gave written consent. Violators face a civil penalty up to $5,000 and the violation also counts as an unfair or deceptive practice under Georgia's Fair Business Practices Act. The state tax commissioner and county tax commissioners must adopt policies to carry out the law.

What the bill does

  • Bans including a taxpayer's telephone number in any property tax roll, assessment record, or other publicly accessible tax document, whether on paper or electronic.
  • Extends the ban to phone numbers shared through data sales, open records requests, or agreements with third parties.
  • Creates exceptions for internal government tax collection use, court-ordered disclosures, and cases with the taxpayer's written consent.
  • Sets a civil penalty of up to $5,000 for anyone who recklessly or knowingly discloses a taxpayer's phone number in a public tax record.
  • Classifies violations as unfair or deceptive practices under Georgia's Fair Business Practices Act (O.C.G.A. Title 10), opening the door to that law's enforcement tools.
  • Directs the state tax commissioner and county tax commissioners to adopt policies and procedures to implement the new rule.

Who it affects

Georgia property owners whose phone numbers currently appear in tax records; county tax commissioners and the state revenue commissioner, who must adopt new policies; companies that buy or use bulk property tax data for marketing or other purposes; and anyone who requests property tax records under Georgia's open records law.

Why it matters

If enacted, Georgia taxpayers' phone numbers would no longer show up in property tax records sold or shared with outside parties, reducing a source of unwanted solicitation calls and potential fraud. Data brokers, marketers, and others who rely on public tax records for phone numbers would lose access to that information.

Key provisions

  • Section 1 names the law the 'Georgia Taxpayer Privacy Protection Act.'
  • Section 2 lays out legislative findings that phone numbers in tax records are unnecessary for transparency and can be misused for solicitation, fraud, or identity theft.
  • Section 3 adds new Code Section 48-5-35, banning taxpayer phone numbers from tax rolls, assessment records, and data shared with third parties, in both physical and electronic form.
  • Section 3 exempts internal government use, court-ordered disclosures, and taxpayer written consent from the ban.
  • Section 3 sets a civil penalty of up to $5,000 for reckless or knowing violations and ties violations to the Fair Business Practices Act (O.C.G.A. Title 10).
  • Section 3 requires the commissioner and county tax commissioners to adopt implementing policies and procedures.
  • Section 4 repeals conflicting laws.

From the bill

“No person shall include taxpayer telephone numbers in any tax roll, assessment record, or other publicly accessible property tax document.”

This is the bill's core ban on phone numbers in property tax records.

“Any person that recklessly or knowingly discloses a taxpayer's telephone number in a public tax record shall upon conviction be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $5,000.00.”

This sets the maximum civil penalty for violating the new privacy protection.

Discussed in meetings (12)

The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.

  1. House Ways & Means Committee, February 18, 2026

    From 0:28:28 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor presented a substitute that would prohibit disclosure of taxpayer telephone numbers when property-tax records are sold, transferred or shared with third parties. The sponsor said improper disclosure could bring civil penalties, while government agencies could still use the information internally for tax administration. A committee member asked whether the bill would reduce spam calls. The sponsor said that was the intent, along with reducing fraudulent and nuisance calls and texts. The committee approved the substitute by voice vote, with no count announced.

  2. House Rules Committee, February 25, 2026

    From 0:58:49 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said HB 874 would prohibit disclosure of taxpayers' telephone numbers when property tax records are sold, transferred or shared with third parties. The sponsor said agencies could continue using the information internally for tax administration, while the bill would protect against public exposure or misuse. No questions or scheduling decision followed.

  3. House Rules Committee, March 5, 2026

    From 0:38:46 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the 2026 House Journal, p. 2014

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The presenter said a substitute to HB 874 made one wording change on line 38 to better match the bill's intent, but did not explain its legal effect. No questions followed. The committee approved the substitute without opposition and later placed the bill on the floor calendar without opposition.

  4. House floor session, March 6, 2026 (legislative day 28, PM, part 1)

    From 0:50:46 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the 2026 House Journal, p. 2116

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said the bill would prohibit disclosure of taxpayer telephone numbers when property-tax records are sold, transferred or shared with third parties, while allowing internal government use for tax administration. A member questioned whether a potential $5,000 fine under the Fair Business Practices Act was excessive. The sponsor said enforcement would address knowing or reckless disclosures and leave discretion to the Attorney General's office. Asked why the measure was outside the Open Records Act, the sponsor emphasized preventing scams and misuse of personal information but did not explain the code placement. The House replaced the committee substitute with a Rules Committee substitute and passed the bill 166-1.

  5. Senate Finance Committee, March 16, 2026

    From 0:17:33 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said HB 874 would prohibit disclosure of taxpayers’ telephone numbers when property-tax records are sold, transferred or shared with third parties, with civil penalties for improper disclosure. The sponsor said government agencies could still use the information internally for tax administration. The sponsor described the purpose as protecting property owners, including seniors, from unwanted calls and misuse of personal contact information. No substantive questions were asked. The committee unanimously approved the bill.

  6. Senate Rules Committee, March 19, 2026

    From 0:09:07 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said the bill would protect taxpayer privacy by prohibiting disclosure of taxpayers' telephone numbers when property tax records are sold, transferred or shared with third parties. No questions or scheduling decision followed.

  7. Senate Rules Committee, March 20, 2026

    From 0:15:20 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said the bill would prohibit disclosure of taxpayers’ telephone numbers when property tax records are sold, transferred or shared with third parties. No questions or calendar decision followed.

  8. Senate Rules Committee, March 23, 2026

    From 0:23:58 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said HB 874 would prohibit disclosure of telephone numbers when property tax records are sold, transferred or shared with third parties. The sponsor cited privacy protection, including for senior citizens, as the purpose. No questions or vote followed.

Status timeline

  1. 2026-03-19Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
  2. 2026-03-18Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
  3. 2026-03-09Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
  4. 2026-03-06House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
  5. 2026-03-06House Third Readers (House)
  6. 2026-02-18House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
  7. 2025-04-02House Second Readers (House)
  8. 2025-03-31House First Readers (House)
Show full history (9 actions)
  1. 2025-03-28House Hopper (House)

Sponsors

  • David Huddleston (R, HD-72)Primary sponsor
  • Johnny Chastain (R, HD-7)
  • Tim Fleming (R, HD-114)
  • Todd Jones (R, HD-25)
  • Derrick McCollum (R, HD-30)
  • Timothy Bearden (R, SD-30)

Votes

  1. PassedHouse voteMarch 6, 2026

    166 yea, 1 nay (4 not voting, 6 excused)

    PASSAGE: House Vote #661

Topics

  • taxpayer privacy
  • property tax records
  • open records law
  • consumer protection
  • data privacy

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Answers come from this document. Not legal advice.

Machine-readable https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb874.md · https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md · MCP https://mcp.georgiacommons.org/mcp

HB874: Georgia Taxpayer Privacy Protection Act; enact | Georgia Commons