Georgia CommonsHB 930: Income tax; refundable credit for grocery, transportation, and utility costs; provide
Last action January 12, 2026 · House Second Readers
House Bill 930 would create new refundable Georgia income tax credits for grocery, transportation, and utility costs, for workforce training, and for rural attorneys, while also adding a small new tax on marketplace facilitator sales.
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 Introduced version, the latest LegiScan holds.
In plain language
House Bill 930 creates several new tax provisions in Georgia law. Starting January 1, 2026, taxpayers would get a refundable income tax credit of $1,000 (single filers or heads of household) or $2,000 (married filing jointly), plus $1,000 per dependent, meant to offset the cost of groceries, transportation, and utilities. A separate refundable credit of up to $1,000 would cover tuition or fees for workforce training programs approved by the State Workforce Development Board, which must publish an annual list of high-demand training programs by local workforce area. The bill also creates a credit of up to $5,000 per year, for up to five years, for attorneys who begin practicing wills and estates or landlord-tenant law in a rural county (population under 50,000) starting after July 1, 2026, and repeals that credit at the end of 2029. It expands the state's low-income housing tax credit to cover certain projects that did not receive a federal housing credit. Finally, it adds a 0.20 percent excise tax on retail sales facilitated by marketplace facilitators. Most provisions take effect July 1, 2026, applying to tax years starting January 1, 2026.
What the bill does
- Creates a refundable income tax credit of $1,000 to $2,000 plus $1,000 per dependent to help offset grocery, transportation, and utility costs, starting in tax year 2026.
- Creates a separate refundable credit of up to $1,000 for tuition or fees paid for state-approved workforce training programs, usable only once per taxpayer.
- Requires the State Workforce Development Board to publish an annual list of high-demand training programs by December 31 each year for the whole state and each local workforce area.
- Creates a credit of up to $5,000 per year for up to five years for attorneys who newly begin practicing wills/estates or landlord-tenant law in a rural county after July 1, 2026, ending automatically on December 31, 2029.
- Expands the Georgia low-income housing tax credit to cover qualified projects that missed out on the federal housing tax credit but would have gotten it under a larger state allocation.
- Imposes a new 0.20 percent excise tax on retail sales of tangible personal property facilitated by online marketplace facilitators, paid by the seller.
Who it affects
Georgia individual taxpayers who file income tax returns, especially those with dependents, would gain new grocery, transportation, and utility tax credits. Workers pursuing state-approved job training, attorneys considering rural practice, low-income housing developers, and businesses selling goods through online marketplace facilitators are also directly affected.
Why it matters
Many Georgia households could see a direct reduction in their state income tax bill, or a refund check, tied to everyday living costs. Rural communities facing attorney shortages could gain more lawyers, and low-income housing developers could access more state tax credits, while online sellers would face a small new sales tax.
Key provisions
- Section 1-1 adds O.C.G.A. § 48-7-29.27, creating the grocery, transportation, and utility tax credit effective January 1, 2026, refundable if it exceeds tax owed.
- Section 2-1 adds O.C.G.A. § 48-7-29.28, a refundable workforce training credit up to $1,000, usable only once per taxpayer.
- Section 2-2 adds O.C.G.A. § 34-14-4, requiring the State Workforce Development Board to publish a High-Demand Workforce Training List annually by December 31.
- Section 3-1 adds O.C.G.A. § 48-7-29.29, a rural attorney tax credit up to $5,000 per year for five years, limited to attorneys new to rural practice after July 1, 2026, and repealed December 31, 2029.
- Sections 4-1 and 4-2 amend O.C.G.A. §§ 33-1-18 and 48-7-29.6 to let certain Georgia housing projects get 100 percent of the federal housing tax credit amount even without receiving the actual federal credit.
- Section 5-1 adds O.C.G.A. § 48-13-150, imposing a 0.20 percent excise tax on retail sales facilitated by marketplace facilitators, paid by the seller.
- Section 6-1 sets the effective date as July 1, 2026, with Parts I through IV applying to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2026.
From the bill
“a taxpayer shall be allowed a tax credit against the tax imposed by Code Section 48-7-20 to offset the costs incurred by such taxpayer for groceries, transportation, and utilities”
“No attorney who, on July 1, 2026, is currently practicing in a rural county shall be eligible for a tax credit under this Code section.”
“there is imposed an excise tax of 0.20 percent of the retail sales price on any tangible personal property sold or delivered into this state”
Status timeline
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Karen Lupton (D, HD-083)
- Marvin Lim (D, HD-098)
Topics
- income tax credits
- cost of living relief
- workforce training
- rural attorneys
- low-income housing tax credit