--- title: SB 31. Income Taxes; all income received as retirement benefits derived from service in the armed forces of the United States or the reserve components; exempt from taxation collection: bills id: 2025-2026/sb31 cite_as: SB 31, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb31 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb31.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb31/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69543 date: 2025-03-06 status: engrossed corpus_version: bills-2026-09-12 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/sb30.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb32.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 716 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb31.md?full=1 bill_number: SB 31 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: Senate bill_type: bill status_date: 2025-03-03 last_action: House Second Readers sponsors: - Greg Dolezal - Steve Gooch - John Kennedy - Jason Anavitarte - Kay Kirkpatrick - Ed Setzler - Marty Harbin - Billy Hickman - Chuck Payne - Carden Summers - Sam Watson - Chuck Hufstetler - Colton Moore - Ben Watson - Mike Hodges - Michael Rhett text_version: Engrossed has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB31/2025 upstream_id: 1943214 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - income taxes - military retirement pay - veterans benefits - tax exemptions --- # SB 31. Income Taxes; all income received as retirement benefits derived from service in the armed forces of the United States or the reserve components; exempt from taxation ## Text Senate Bill 31 By: Senators Dolezal of the 27th, Gooch of the 51st, Kennedy of the 18th, Anavitarte of the 31st, Kirkpatrick of the 32nd and others AS PASSED SENATE A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Chapter 7 of Title 48 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to income taxes, so as to exempt from taxation all income received as retirement benefits derived from service in the armed forces of the United States or the reserve components thereof; 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. Chapter 7 of Title 48 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to income taxes, is amended in Code Section 48-7-27, relating to computation of taxable net income, by revising paragraph (5.1) of subsection (a) as follows: "(5.1)(A) Up to $17,500.00 of All income received by an individual who is less than 62 years of age paid to such paid to an individual as retirement benefits from military service in the armed forces of the United States or the reserve components thereof and an additional amount of up to $17,500.00 of such income, provided that he or she has Georgia earned income otherwise included in his or her Georgia taxable net income in an amount that exceeds $17,500.00. (B) In the case of a married couple filing jointly, each spouse who is otherwise qualified for an exclusion allowed by this paragraph shall be individually entitled to exclude retirement income received by that spouse up to the exclusion amount. (C) The exclusions exclusion provided for in this paragraph shall not apply to or affect and shall be in addition to those adjustments to net income provided for under any other paragraph of this subsection;" SECTION 2. 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 3. 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. Senate Bill 31 would exempt all military retirement pay from Georgia's state income tax, replacing the current partial exemption that caps the tax break and limits it based on age. ### Plain-language summary Georgia currently lets veterans exclude only part of their military retirement pay from state income tax: up to $17,500 for those under 62, plus another $17,500 if they have enough other earned income. Senate Bill 31 rewrites that section of Georgia's income tax law (O.C.G.A. § 48-7-27) so that all retirement income earned from service in the U.S. armed forces or the reserves is exempt from state income tax, removing the age-under-62 requirement tied to the exemption. The bill keeps a related provision allowing married couples filing jointly to each claim the exclusion individually. It also keeps language making clear this exemption applies in addition to other income adjustments already allowed under Georgia tax law. If enacted, the change would take effect July 1, 2025, and apply to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2026. ### What it does - Rewrites part of Georgia's income tax law (O.C.G.A. § 48-7-27) to exempt all military retirement income from state income tax, rather than only a capped amount. - Removes the requirement that a retiree be under 62 years old to qualify for the exemption on military retirement pay. - Keeps a rule letting each spouse in a married couple filing jointly claim the exemption individually on their own retirement income. - Preserves language stating the exemption applies on top of, and does not replace, other income adjustments allowed elsewhere in Georgia tax law. - Sets the law to take effect July 1, 2025, applying to tax years starting on or after January 1, 2026. ### Who it affects Georgia residents receiving retirement pay from service in the U.S. armed forces or reserve components, including retired veterans of any age, married couples filing joint state tax returns, and the Georgia Department of Revenue, which administers the state income tax exclusion. ### Why it matters Military retirees in Georgia currently owe state income tax on retirement pay above certain caps, and only qualify for part of the break if they are under 62. This bill would let veterans of any age exclude all of that retirement income from state tax, potentially lowering their tax bills starting with the 2026 tax year. ### Key provisions - Section 1 revises paragraph (5.1)(A) of O.C.G.A. § 48-7-27 to exempt all income received as retirement benefits from military service in the armed forces or reserve components, removing the prior age-under-62 limit. - Section 1 also retains language allowing an additional exclusion tied to Georgia earned income exceeding $17,500, carried over from the current law's structure. - Section 1 keeps subsection (B), letting each spouse in a married couple filing jointly claim the exclusion individually up to the allowed amount. - Section 1 retains subsection (C), clarifying the exclusion applies in addition to other income adjustments under Georgia tax law. - Section 2 sets the effective date as July 1, 2025, applicable to taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026. - Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws. ## Status - Status: Engrossed (2025-03-03) - Last action: House Second Readers (2025-03-06) - Sponsors: Greg Dolezal, Steve Gooch, John Kennedy, Jason Anavitarte, Kay Kirkpatrick, Ed Setzler, Marty Harbin, Billy Hickman, Chuck Payne, Carden Summers, Sam Watson, Chuck Hufstetler, Colton Moore, Ben Watson, Mike Hodges, Michael Rhett - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69543 > The history, votes, and amendments (716 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb31.md?full=1