Georgia Republicans, against backdrop of 2026 election, push to eliminate state income tax

ATLANTA (AP) — As the 2026 election looms, Georgia Republicans seeking higher office met Tuesday to begin exploring plans to eliminate the state’s personal income tax.

The Republican contenders for lieutenant governor sat on a committee spearheaded by Republican Burt Jones, who currently holds the role and is running for governor with U.S. President Donald Trump’s endorsement.

“If we want to continue to stay competitive in the state of Georgia and continue to be the No. 1 state to do business, we’ve got to be looking for ways to keep us competitive and make it where we have a competitive advantage over states that we are competing with all the time,” Jones said.

Most of the lawmakers on the panel praised the idea as one that would help working families and small businesses after hearing from Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform and a prominent conservative lobbyist for tax cuts.

Currently, eight states, including Florida and Tennessee, don’t tax individuals’ income, according to the Tax Foundation, a tax policy think tank. Other states, including North Carolina and Louisiana, have reduced income taxes or are on their way to eliminating them.

In Georgia, Democrats oppose the idea, saying it would benefit the wealthy rather than low-income people, who would face other levies. Atlanta Democrat Sen. Nan Orrock said Tuesday that eliminating the income tax would hurt vital services across the state by reducing state revenue, especially amid federal cuts to programs such as food stamps, education grants and disaster relief.

“I can go on and on with needs that we have now in many areas that would argue for having a robust revenue to meet the needs of our citizens,” said Orrock.

Norquist said states still generate revenue after cutting income taxes. One reason is that when businesses know states are on track to eliminate income taxes, he said, they start investing there, and residents flock over too.

“When you attract more people into the state and more investment into the state, you end up with both more money for individuals but also more tax revenue at lower rates,” said Norquist.

States have taken various approaches to working their way down to zero income taxes, some more incrementally than others. They often set aside money from state budgets to offset income taxes later.

Georgia income taxes are expected to bring in $20 billion for the state in 2026, accounting for almost half of state revenue, according to the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute

Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law this year income tax rebates of up to $500 and a reduction in taxes to 5.19% in January for all income earned in 2025. That’s part of a long-term plan to cut Georgia’s income tax rate to 4.99%, which could happen as early as next year. The law already took Georgia’s former system of tax brackets and created a flat income tax.

The state has also paid rebates on income taxes to taxpayers in recent years, thanks to billions in surplus cash,

Higher-income taxpayers collect the most benefits from income tax reductions. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found two-thirds of the income tax cut benefits would flow to the highest-earning 20% of Georgians. Republicans said that was only natural because most Georgians in the lowest 20% of the income distribution are mostly exempt from state income taxes.

Democratic gubernatorial candidates haven’t ruled out tax reductions. Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has suggested eliminating the state income tax for public schoolteachers, but said eliminating income taxes altogether would hurt funding for schools and raise costs for lower-income families.

Republicans are still forging ahead.

“While the mechanics are up for debate, I think it’s clear that the end goal is not,” said Sen. Appropriations Committee Chairman Blake Tillery, a Vidalia Republican who is running for lieutenant governor.

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Kramon is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.