Florida vs Georgia: Taxes & Take-Home Pay 2026

Jacksonville or Atlanta: what the state line costs

Florida has no state income tax; Georgia charges a flat 4.99% for 2026 after HB 463 cut the rate from 5.19%. For a typical earner the difference is a few thousand dollars a year in Florida's favour, but Georgia is closing the gap: the same law schedules annual cuts of 0.125 points until the rate reaches 3.99%.

The two states share a long border, and the comparison comes up constantly in the Jacksonville, Tallahassee and Valdosta areas, for families relocating to Atlanta for work, and for retirees choosing between Florida and Georgia's mountains or coast.

Georgia's income tax in plain numbers

Worked example: a married couple with two children earning $110,000 have Georgia taxable income of $70,000 after the $30,000 joint deduction and two $5,000 dependent deductions. Georgia tax is $3,493, or $291 a month. A single worker on $70,000 pays $2,745. In Florida both pay $0.

• Flat rate: 4.99%, retroactive to January 1, 2026.
• Standard deduction: $15,000 for single and head-of-household filers, $30,000 for married couples filing jointly.
• Dependent deduction: $5,000 per dependent, up from $4,000.
• Wages paid before May 11, 2026 were withheld at 5.19%; employers could switch to 4.99% from that date, so many Georgia workers will get a refund when they file their 2026 return.
• Florida: no income tax on wages, retirement income or investment income, and nothing withheld for the state.

Retirees: Georgia's exclusion is unusually generous

For retirees the gap can shrink to almost nothing. Georgia subtracts Social Security in full, and its retirement income exclusion lets each qualifying person exclude a large slice of retirement income:

• Each spouse qualifies separately, so a married couple both 65 or older can exclude up to $130,000. Jointly owned investment income is split 50/50.
• HB 463 raises the exclusion to $70,000 beginning in 2027.
• Example: a couple aged 66 and 68 with $40,000 of pension income each, plus Social Security, owe no Georgia income tax on any of it. Their Florida counterparts also pay none, so the deciding factors become property tax, insurance and sales tax.

Property and sales tax

Florida's homestead exemption can reduce a primary home's taxable value by as much as $50,000, and once a home has the exemption, its assessed value cannot rise by more than 3% a year or the change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is less (the "Save Our Homes" limit). Apply with the county property appraiser by March 1. Georgia also has homestead exemptions, which vary by county and school district, so compare the actual tax bill on each home.

Sales tax averages 6.98% in Florida and 7.56% in Georgia. Florida's 6.00% state rate is higher than Georgia's 4.00%, but Florida's county surtaxes average just 0.98%. Groceries are exempt from Florida sales tax. Georgia exempts groceries from its state rate, but local sales taxes still apply to food in most places.

Commuting and moving across the line

Georgia has no reciprocity agreements. A Florida resident who works in Georgia has Georgia tax withheld once more than 5% of their total earnings, or more than $5,000 of wages, are attributable to Georgia, and files Georgia Form 500 with Schedule 3 to calculate tax on Georgia-source income. A Georgia resident who works in Florida still owes Georgia tax on all wages; because Florida does not require withholding, the employer withholds Georgia tax instead.

The year you move, file Form 500 as a part-year resident and complete Schedule 3, which prorates tax to income received while a Georgia resident plus Georgia-source income afterwards. Part-year residents must also prorate the retirement income exclusion. Retirees moving from Georgia to Florida keep their pensions out of reach: federal law (4 U.S.C. §114) bars a state from taxing pension and IRA income of people who no longer live there.