How Georgia taxes a paycheck
Georgia moved to a flat income tax on 1 January 2024 under HB 1437, replacing a top rate of 5.75% with 5.49%, and HB 1015 cut the rate again to 5.39% for 2024 and 5.19% for 2025. The law schedules 0.10-point reductions each year toward 4.99% as long as state revenue grows and the rainy-day fund is full; those conditions were not certified for 2026, so the rate stays at 5.19%.
The standard deduction is $12,000 for single filers and $24,000 for married couples, roughly doubled by the 2022 reform, and each dependent adds a $4,000 deduction. There is no personal exemption for the filer. Georgia has no local income taxes: Atlanta, Savannah and every other city rely on sales and property tax.
Georgia taxes retirement income lightly (a $65,000 exclusion per person at 65 and older, $35,000 from 62) and exempts Social Security, which matters to the state's large retiree population but not to a wage calculation.
How much taxes are taken out of paychecks in Georgia?
On a $60,000 salary in 2026, a single filer in Georgia pays about $5,020 in federal income tax, $4,590 in Social Security and Medicare, and about $2,490 in Georgia income tax, leaving roughly $47,900 a year or $1,842 every two weeks. The state share is 4.2% of gross pay, the flat rate applied after the $12,000 deduction.
Because the rate is flat, Georgia's effective rate creeps toward 5.19% as income rises: 4.8% on $150,000 and 5.0% on $300,000. A married couple with two children on $100,000 pays about $3,940, the two $4,000 dependent deductions saving them $415.
Georgia compared with its neighbours
Georgia borders two no-tax states, Florida and Tennessee, and three that tax wages: Alabama (up to 5%, with a federal tax deduction), South Carolina (0% to 6%) and North Carolina (flat 3.99% from 2026). On a $60,000 single salary the state tax is about $2,490 in Georgia, $2,480 in Alabama, $2,440 in South Carolina, $1,890 in North Carolina and $0 in Florida and Tennessee.
North Carolina is the comparison that has shifted most. Both states set out to cut rates in 2021 and 2022; North Carolina reached 3.99% on schedule while Georgia's triggers stalled at 5.19%, so a Georgia earner now pays about a third more state tax than a North Carolina earner on the same salary.
Withholding forms and filing status in Georgia
Georgia employers withhold from Form G-4, which asks for a filing status and the number of dependents; Georgia's withholding tables apply the flat rate after the standard deduction and $4,000 per dependent. Married couples filing jointly get a $24,000 deduction, double the single figure, and the same 5.19% rate, so the joint return simply doubles the sheltered amount. Georgia's 2024 reform also removed the old personal exemption and folded it into the larger standard deduction.
Georgia has no reciprocal agreements. A Florida resident working in Atlanta pays Georgia tax on those wages; a Georgia resident working in Tennessee owes Georgia tax on them with no credit to claim. The state's retirement income exclusion ($65,000 per person at 65) is one of the most generous in the Southeast and is claimed on the return.