Tax return payments are officially on their way to Georgia residents right now. The Georgia Department of Revenue confirmed it startedissuing surplus tax refund checks under HB 1000, which Governor Brian Kemp signed into law back on March 20, 2026. This is also the fourth program of its kind under Kemp’s administration, and it will push over $1 billion out to eligible filers across the state. Married couples filing jointly can get a Georgia rebate check of up to $500, and single filers get $250. At the time of writing, payments are already going out.

Also Read:Internal Revenue Service Deadline: Claim COVID Refund by July 10

The Georgia surplus tax refund comes with a pretty clear set of conditions. A taxpayer needs to have filed both a 2024 and a 2025 Georgia individual income tax return, also paid into the state tax system, and must not carry any outstanding debt with the Department of Revenue. Part-year and nonresident filers may see their amounts adjusted based on prorated calculations.

The HB 1000 tax refund Georgia payment caps work out like this:

Each tax return amount gets calculated against a filer’s 2024 tax liability, specifically line 16 of Form 500 or line 4 of Form 500EZ, before any withholding or credits factor in.

Governor Kemp signed HB 1000 alongside HB 1199 in March and had this to say at the time:

“Hardworking Georgians know best how to spend their money, not the government. That’s why I’m proud to sign these bills and, along with the General Assembly, deliver meaningful tax relief on top of the other measures we’ve taken in recent years. Because we budget conservatively, we can take steps like these that actually deliver on affordability issues for families in our state.”

After the Georgia surplus tax refund rollout kicked off in early May, Kemp’s office also said:

“Georgians know best how to spend their money, not the government. That’s why we’re committed to being good stewards of those dollars and putting more of them where they belong, in Georgians’ pockets, at a time when other states are having to raise taxes.”

And back when HB 1000 cleared the legislature, Kemp wrote on social media:

Source: Watcher Guru