by T.A. DeFeo
Georgia officials have dispatched the first “surplus tax refund checks” to Georgia taxpayers who properly paid and filed their taxes over the past two years.
State lawmakers approved the roughly $1 billion in “refunds” as part of House Bill 162, which Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law. Citing “the state’s revenue surplus,” Georgia leaders agreed to refund the money to taxpayers.
Under the plan, the state would send $250 rebates to single taxpayers or married taxpayers filing separately and $500 rebates to married couples filing a joint return. It would also give $375 rebates in cases of heads of households.
“Georgia is once again in a position to issue surplus tax refunds thanks to years of responsible, conservative budgeting and because we chose to protect both lives and livelihoods during the pandemic,” Kemp, a Republican, said in an announcement. “While failed policies coming out of Washington, D.C. are pushing us closer to a recession and forcing hardworking Georgians to endure sky-high inflation, we on the state level are doing what we can to return money back where it belongs — in taxpayers’ hands.”
Georgia officials are doling out the refunds similar to last year’s House Bill 1302. Georgia Department of Revenue officials expect to finalize refunds for taxpayers who filed by the April 18 deadline in the next eight weeks.
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T.A. DeFeo is a regular contributor to The Center Square.
Photo “Brian Kemp” by Brian Kemp. Background Photo “Georgia State Capitol” by DXR. CC BY-SA 4.0.
