Take-home pay in Georgia after federal tax, Social Security, Medicare and Georgia’s flat 4.99% income tax — lowered again for 2026.
Rules checked against the IRS and the Georgia Department of Revenue on ; not independently reviewed. Changelog Report an error
Take-home pay per monthExample
$5,427.88
$65,134.50 a year · from $85,000.00 gross
Same pay in tax year 2025: $64,559.80 a year — $574.70 more in 2026.
| Item | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,083.33 | $85,000.00 |
| Federal income tax | −$822.50 | −$9,870.00 |
| Social Security (OASDI) | −$439.17 | −$5,270.00 |
| Medicare (incl. Additional Medicare Tax) | −$102.71 | −$1,232.50 |
| Georgia income tax | −$291.08 | −$3,493.00 |
| Take-home pay | $5,427.88 | $65,134.50 |
Compare two scenarios. Save this result as scenario A, then change any input to see the difference.
Assumptions
Rules us-2026-r1+us-ga-2026-r1 · checked against IRS and state revenue departments on · not independently reviewed · 2026 rates and sources
Annual federal and state liability for the year, not your W-4 withholding.
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Estimates for general information only — not financial, tax or legal advice. Your actual figures depend on your employer’s payroll, your full tax situation, your lender’s or bank’s terms and rules we may not model. Check official sources and speak to a qualified adviser before making decisions. Annual liability, not withholding. Disclaimer
Georgia · single
| Gross pay | $44,000.00 |
|---|---|
| Federal income tax | −$3,100.00 |
| Social Security (OASDI) | −$2,728.00 |
| Medicare (incl. Additional Medicare Tax) | −$638.00 |
| Georgia income tax | −$1,447.10 |
| Take-home pay | $36,086.90 |
Average rate 18.0% · marginal rate 24.6%
Georgia · single
| Gross pay | $70,000.00 |
|---|---|
| Federal income tax | −$6,570.00 |
| Social Security (OASDI) | −$4,340.00 |
| Medicare (incl. Additional Medicare Tax) | −$1,015.00 |
| Georgia income tax | −$2,744.50 |
| Take-home pay | $55,330.50 |
Average rate 21.0% · marginal rate 34.6%
Georgia · married jointly, 2 children
| Gross pay | $140,000.00 |
|---|---|
| Federal income tax | −$8,740.00 |
| Social Security (OASDI) | −$8,680.00 |
| Medicare (incl. Additional Medicare Tax) | −$2,030.00 |
| Georgia income tax | −$4,990.00 |
| Take-home pay | $115,560.00 |
Average rate 17.5% · marginal rate 34.6%
A single Georgian on $70,000 pays $2,744.50 of state tax: 4.99% of wages after the $15,000 standard deduction. At $44,000 that deduction shelters about a third of pay, so the bill is $1,447.10 and the effective Georgia rate is only 3.29%.
The family on $140,000 subtracts a $30,000 joint standard deduction plus $5,000 for each child before the flat rate applies, leaving $4,990.00. Georgia has no employee payroll program, so there are no other state deductions on any of the cards.
Georgia starts from federal adjusted gross income, subtracts its own standard deduction and any dependent exemptions, then applies one rate. Here are the engine’s steps:
Georgia moved to a single flat rate in 2024 and has cut it every year since. For 2026 the rate is 4.99%, down from 5.19% in 2025. Taxable income starts from federal AGI, so 401(k), HSA and FSA contributions reduce Georgia income too.
The Georgia standard deduction is $15,000 for single filers and heads of household and $30,000 for married couples filing jointly. Each dependent adds a $5,000 exemption. Georgia doesn’t follow the federal standard deduction amounts, and it has its own rules for retirement income and military pay.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Georgia standard deduction | $15,000 single / $30,000 joint |
| Dependent exemption | $5,000 per dependent |
Georgia changed three things at once for 2026. House Bill 463, signed on 11 May 2026 and applied back to 1 January according to the 2026 Employer’s Tax Guide, cut the rate from 5.19% to 4.99%, raised the standard deduction from $12,000 to $15,000 ($24,000 to $30,000 joint), and lifted the dependent exemption from $4,000 to $5,000.
On the $70,000 example the state bill falls by $265.70; for the family card it falls by $615.20. Because the change was retroactive, paychecks earlier in 2026 were withheld under the old figures, so many Georgians will see the saving as a refund rather than in their pay.
| Salary | Georgia income tax 2026 | Share of gross | Take-home 2026 | Georgia tax 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $30,000 | $748.50 | 2.50% | $25,536.50 | $934.20 |
| $50,000 | $1,746.50 | 3.49% | $40,608.50 | $1,972.20 |
| $75,000 | $2,994.00 | 3.99% | $58,598.50 | $3,269.70 |
| $100,000 | $4,241.50 | 4.24% | $74,938.50 | $4,567.20 |
| $150,000 | $6,736.50 | 4.49% | $107,054.50 | $7,162.20 |
| $250,000 | $11,726.50 | 4.69% | $171,455.50 | $12,352.20 |
Atlanta and other Georgia cities and counties don’t tax wages. Local services are funded through property and sales taxes, so a job in downtown Atlanta and one in Savannah produce the same Georgia paycheck.
HB 463 also created limited Georgia subtractions for qualified overtime and cash tips for 2026 to 2028. They are separate from the federal deductions and are not modelled yet, so tipped and overtime workers may owe slightly less Georgia tax than shown. The federal tips and overtime deductions are included when you enter amounts under More options.
Georgia offers a small credit per exemption, from $5 to $26 depending on income band, for households with federal AGI under $20,000. It is not modelled.
Georgia employers withhold using the state’s tables and your Form G-4, which records your filing status, dependents and any extra allowances. If you never handed one in, Georgia law tells your employer to withhold as if you were single with no allowances, which over-withholds for most married workers and parents.
Two things make a check worthwhile this year. Old G-4 forms filled in before the flat tax may claim allowances that no longer mean what they did, and the 2026 cuts were enacted mid-year. Compare your year-to-date Georgia withholding, scaled to twelve months, with the annual 2026 figure from the calculator; if withholding is well above it, a new G-4 brings your pay into line for the rest of the year.
Georgia has no reciprocal agreements with its neighbours. A Georgia resident working in Alabama, South Carolina or North Carolina is taxed by the work state on those wages and claims a credit on the Georgia return, so the total is roughly the higher of the two states’ taxes. A Florida or Tennessee resident commuting into Georgia owes Georgia tax on Georgia wages with no home-state tax to offset it.
The calculator assumes a full-year Georgia resident working in Georgia. Part-year residents and nonresidents file Form 500 with Schedule 3, which prorates the deduction and exemptions — a calculation not modelled here.
Because Georgia follows federal AGI, a traditional 401(k) lowers both taxes at once. Suppose the $70,000 worker defers 6% of pay, $4,200.00 a year. Georgia income tax falls from $2,744.50 to $2,534.92, and federal income tax from $6,570.00 to $5,716.00.
The upshot is that putting $4,200.00 into the plan reduces take-home pay by only $3,136.42; the rest is tax that would otherwise have gone to Washington and Atlanta. Social Security and Medicare are unchanged, since FICA applies to deferrals too. Enter a percentage under “Traditional 401(k)” above to try your own figure.
A flat 4.99%, down from 5.19% in 2025 (Georgia DOR 2026 Employer’s Tax Guide).
$15,000 for single filers and heads of household, $30,000 for married filing jointly, plus $5,000 per dependent.
No. No Georgia city or county taxes wages.
Form G-4. It records your filing status and dependents; Georgia employers use it with the state withholding tables.
Yes. HB 463 applies the 4.99% rate and the larger deductions from 1 January 2026, so tax withheld at the old rate earlier in the year is settled when you file.
Yes, at the flat rate: Georgia’s calculation begins with federal AGI, from which traditional 401(k), HSA and other federal pre-tax amounts have already been removed.
For a single filer with no pre-tax deductions, $4,241.50 in 2026: 4.99% of $85,000 after the standard deduction. That is 4.24% of gross pay.
Households with federal AGI under $20,000 can claim a small credit for each exemption, between $5 and $26 depending on the income band, on Form 500. Because it depends on household details rather than pay, the calculator leaves it out.
Because the lower rate and bigger deductions were made retroactive to January after withholding had already run at the old figures for months. On $70,000, 2025 rules would give $3,010.20 of Georgia tax against $2,744.50 under the 2026 rules; tax withheld in between comes back when you file.
Reviewed 8 October 2026. Georgia figures use rules us-2026-r1+us-ga-2026-r1, compared with the Georgia Department of Revenue and IRS publications on 7 October 2026. How we verify Georgia’s rules