Rental Property Taxes in Georgia (2026 Guide)

1. Property Tax in Georgia

Georgia property tax is levied by counties (and school districts) on 40% of fair market value (O.C.G.A. §48-5-7), not the full value. Statewide the effective rate runs roughly 0.8%–0.9%, with wide county variation.

• No homestead relief for rentals — the $2,000 standard homestead exemption (O.C.G.A. §48-5-44) and the new HB 581 floating exemption both require an owner-occupied primary residence, so neither applies to investment property.
• 45-day appeal window — you have 45 days from the date the county mails the Annual Notice of Assessment to appeal (the clock runs from mailing, not receipt).

2. Georgia State Income Tax on Rental Income

For 2026, Georgia taxes income at a flat 4.99% (down from 5.19% in 2025; O.C.G.A. §48-7-101). GA taxable income starts from your federal AGI, so net rental income from your federal Schedule E flows through with Georgia adjustments.

• No capital-gains preference — Georgia taxes gains at the same flat 4.99% as ordinary income.
• IRC conformity date — Georgia conforms to the Internal Revenue Code as of January 1, 2025 (HB 111), so federal changes enacted after that date are not automatically adopted for GA.

3. Bonus Depreciation Decoupling

Georgia does not adopt federal bonus depreciation (IRC §168(k)). This is the key adjustment for landlords who run a cost-segregation study or place significant improvements in service.

• Add back the federal depreciation that used bonus, then subtract a separate Georgia depreciation figure computed with regular MACRS (no bonus).
• Regular MACRS conforms — only the bonus piece is decoupled, so your ordinary 27.5-year schedule carries through to Georgia.

4. Real Estate Transfer Tax

Georgia charges a real estate transfer tax of $1.00 per $1,000 of value (0.1%) under O.C.G.A. §48-6-1 — among the lowest in the country. The seller is statutorily liable, though purchase contracts often shift it to the buyer.

5. LLC Registration and Fees

A Georgia LLC files an annual registration with the Secretary of State for $50 (online; $60 by paper), due between January 1 and April 1 each year, with a $25 late fee after April 1.

Georgia's corporate net worth tax does not apply to an LLC taxed as a partnership or a disregarded single-member LLC — it only bites if your LLC elects corporate treatment.

6. Rent Control

Georgia prohibits local rent control. Under O.C.G.A. §44-7-19, no county or municipality may enact or enforce any ordinance regulating the amount of rent — you set rents at market.

7. Security Deposit Rules (Updated by HB 404)

Georgia's Safe at Home Act (HB 404), effective July 1, 2024, changed deposit law — older guides saying Georgia has "no cap" are out of date. For leases entered into or renewed on or after that date:

• Cap of 2 months’ rent (O.C.G.A. §44-7-30.1).
• Escrow or surety bond — deposits must sit in a regulated account with written notice to the tenant, or be covered by a bond.
• Move-in / move-out inspection — an itemized list of existing damage is required, with the move-out list provided within 3 business days.
• Return within 30 days of the landlord obtaining possession of the premises (O.C.G.A. §44-7-34).
• Treble damages — wrongful withholding can expose a landlord to 3× the amount plus attorney’s fees, subject to a bona-fide-error safe harbor.

8. How SheltrIQ Helps Georgia Landlords

SheltrIQ keeps Georgia landlords aligned across the federal and state returns:

• Bonus-depreciation handling — tracks the federal-vs-Georgia depreciation difference so the add-back and GA MACRS subtraction reconcile.
• AI Schedule E classification — sorts each expense to the right line so your GA taxable income starts from an accurate federal return.
• Deadline reminders — keeps the January–April LLC registration and estimated-payment dates on your radar.
• Deposit tracking — records deposits as liabilities (not income) until kept, matching the HB 404 escrow rules.