SB 465: Income Taxes; business enterprises that hire illegal aliens for large-scale projects from claiming certain tax credits associated with such projects; disqualify

Georgia currently offers a tax credit worth $5,250 per year for five years to businesses that create new full-time jobs on large-scale projects, as long as they offer health insurance to those employees. This bill changes that program in a few ways. First, it removes the option for a business to apply excess credit against its quarterly or monthly withholding tax payments when the credit is bigger than its income tax bill, so any leftover credit amount can no longer be used that way. Second, it adds a new disqualification rule: if a business enterprise is found to have hired an illegal alien (as defined under O.C.G.A. § 16-11-201) and used that hiring as the basis for claiming the credit, it loses the credit entirely. Third, it sets a sunset date of July 1, 2031, after which no new credits can be claimed under this program, though businesses already approved before that date can keep collecting the credit for whatever remains of their original five-year period.

• Disqualifies a business enterprise from the large-scale project jobs tax credit if it is found to have hired an illegal alien and used that hiring to justify the credit claim.
• Removes the existing option for businesses to apply excess tax credit amounts against their quarterly or monthly withholding tax payments under O.C.G.A. § 48-7-103.
• Replaces references to 'employer' with 'business enterprise' throughout the health insurance eligibility requirement for the credit.
• Sets a sunset date of July 1, 2031, after which no business enterprise can newly claim this tax credit.
• Allows businesses whose applications were approved before the 2031 sunset date to keep claiming the credit for the remainder of their original five-year eligibility period.

Businesses that run large-scale projects in Georgia and claim the state's jobs tax credit under O.C.G.A. § 48-7-40.24, the employees whose jobs qualify for the credit, and the Georgia Department of Revenue, which administers and would enforce the disqualification rule.

Companies that rely on this jobs tax credit for large projects would lose it if found to have hired an illegal alien as the basis for a claimed job, and would no longer be able to offset unused credit against withholding tax payments. The program itself would stop accepting new applicants after mid-2031.

• Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 48-7-40.24(d) to delete the provision letting businesses apply excess credit against quarterly or monthly withholding payments under O.C.G.A. § 48-7-103.
• Section 1 replaces the term 'employer' with 'business enterprise' in the health insurance requirement needed to qualify for the credit.
• Section 1 adds language disqualifying any business enterprise found to have hired an illegal alien, as defined in O.C.G.A. § 16-11-201, and claimed that hiring as the basis for the credit.
• A new subsection (s) bars any business enterprise from claiming this tax credit on or after July 1, 2031.
• Subsection (s) preserves credit eligibility for businesses already approved before July 1, 2031, letting them finish out their original five-year credit period.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-03-10House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-03-09House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-03-06Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
4. 2026-03-06Senate Third Read (Senate)
5. 2026-03-06Senate Taken from Table (Senate)
6. 2026-03-06Senate Tabled (Senate)
7. 2026-03-04Senate Engrossed (Senate)
8. 2026-03-03Senate Read Second Time (Senate)

• Steve Gooch (R, SD-051)Primary sponsor
• Drew Echols (R, SD-049)
• Frank Ginn (R, SD-047)
• Randy Robertson (R, SD-029)
• Russ Goodman (R, SD-008)
• Billy Hickman (R, SD-004)
• Carden Summers (R, SD-013)
• Ricky Williams (R, SD-025)
• Marty Harbin (R, SD-016)
• Matt Brass (R, SD-006)
• Jason T. Dickerson (R, SD-021)
• Timothy Bearden (R, SD-030)
• Bill Cowsert (R, SD-046)
• Max Burns (R, SD-023)
• Bo Hatchett (R, SD-050)
• Greg Dolezal (R, SD-027)
• Shawn Still (R, SD-048)
• Blake Tillery (R, SD-019)
• Ben Watson (R, SD-001)
• Lee Anderson (R, SD-024)
• Jason Anavitarte (R, SD-031)

1. PassedSenate voteMarch 4, 2026

   31 yea, 22 nay (1 not voting, 1 absent)

   Motion To Engross: Sb 306, Sb 465, Sb 498, Sr 668: Senate Vote #615

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 6, 2026

   49 yea, 0 nay (3 not voting, 3 absent)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #667

• income tax credits
• illegal immigration enforcement
• economic development incentives
• business tax policy