Kemp signs Georgia’s first military retirement income tax exemption into law
Gov. Brian Kemp signed four bills into law Monday that are designed to help military service members, their spouses and veterans, including an exemption on military retiree income taxes.
“It’s just thanking them for their service,” Kemp told reporters at the National Infantry Museum in Columbus. “We got so many great veterans in this state. ...This is our way of saying ‘Thank you.’ This is also a workforce development issue. We want to keep these retirees here when they go into their second careers.”
The bills are:
- HB 1064, a bill that establishes a tax exemption for military retirement income in Georgia.
- HB 884, a measure that grants expedited professional and other board licenses for military spouses within 90 days of application.
- SB 96, legislation that allows veterans to use their Veterans Health Identification Card from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as a form of ID when using a public notary.
- SB 87, a bill that allows taxpayers to donate all or a portion of their annual tax refund to scholarships for disabled veterans at Georgia’s technical colleges. The bill honors former state senator Jack Hill who died in 2020.
Columbus-area lawmakers sponsored several of the bills. House Rules Chairman Richard Smith, a Republican, was one of six cosponsors for the income tax exemption. Democratic Sen. Ed Harbison cosponsored both state Senate bills, and Sen. Randy Robertson (R-Cataula) cosponsored the scholarship bill.
Under HB 1064, up to $17,500 in military retirement income will be exempt from state income taxes. A veteran could have up to $35,000 exempt from state income taxes if their taxable net income exceeds $17,500.
Kemp told audience members that Georgia was the only state in the region and “one of only a few in the country” that fully taxed military retirees up to the age of 62. Kemp’s office said it’s the first such tax exemption in state history.
Smith first introduced military retirement tax exemption legislation in 2005, his first year as a state representative. He told audience members that U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop introduced a similar bill in the late 1970s when he was a state legislator.
Smith told the Ledger-Enquirer that Kemp was instrumental in helping get the bill passed.
“Gov. Kemp said this was part of his platform, and if he had not been involved we would still be hoping for (the bill’s passage,)” Smith said.
This story was originally published April 18, 2022 at 7:19 PM.