The Georgia homestead exemption removes $2,000 from the assessed value of your primary residence for county and school taxes, which works out to roughly $60 a year at a typical 30-mill rate. That baseline is only the start. Local county add-ons, senior and disabled veteran exemptions, and a new floating exemption that caps how fast your taxable value can grow often push real savings into the hundreds or thousands of dollars each year. What you actually save depends on your county’s millage rate, which local exemptions your jurisdiction offers, and whether you qualify for any age-, income-, or disability-based programs.
How Georgia Figures Your Property Tax
Georgia assesses property at 40 percent of fair market value.1Department of Revenue. Real and Personal Property FAQ A home with a $300,000 fair market value has an assessed value of $120,000, and that assessed value is what exemptions reduce.
Your county, school district, and city each set a millage rate, the tax per $1,000 of assessed value. One mill equals $1 per $1,000. At a combined 30 mills on an assessed value of $118,000 after exemptions, the bill is $3,540. The Department of Revenue publishes county millage rates annually.2Department of Revenue. Property Tax Millage Rates
The Standard $2,000 Exemption
Any Georgia homeowner who lives in the home as a primary residence can claim the standard exemption. It cuts $2,000 from assessed value for state, county, and school taxes, but not for municipal taxes or bonded indebtedness.3Justia Law. Georgia Code 48-5-44 – Exemption of Homestead Georgia no longer collects a state property tax, so the practical effect falls on your county and school bills.
At 30 mills, that’s about $60 a year. The bigger value of the standard exemption is that having it on file is usually the gateway to claiming the more generous local and special exemptions layered on top.
You must own and occupy the home as your primary residence on January 1 of the tax year to qualify.4Department of Revenue. Property Tax Homestead Exemptions Close in February, and you’re eligible starting the next January 1. Second homes and rentals never qualify.
The Floating Exemption That Caps Value Growth
Beginning in 2025, Georgia added a floating homestead exemption that can dwarf the standard $2,000 cut, especially where home prices are rising fast. Voters approved a constitutional amendment in November 2024, and HB 581 implemented it.
The floating exemption uses 2024 as the base year for your home’s taxable value. Each year after, your assessed value for homestead purposes can rise only by the rate of inflation set by the state Revenue Commissioner, regardless of what the market does.5Newton County, GA. House Bill 581 – Save the Homes Act If your home’s market value jumps 15 percent and inflation is 3 percent, your taxable value rises 3 percent. The gap between the two is your floating exemption, and it grows every year appreciation outpaces inflation.
The exemption applies automatically to county, school, and city taxes unless the local government opted out before March 1, 2025. Jurisdictions that took no action are locked in permanently.5Newton County, GA. House Bill 581 – Save the Homes Act Several metro-area school districts and some cities, including Atlanta and Savannah, did opt out. Ask your county tax commissioner which taxing authorities on your bill are covered.
Local County Add-Ons
The Georgia Constitution lets counties create their own homestead exemptions on top of the state one, and this is where savings often become substantial.4Department of Revenue. Property Tax Homestead Exemptions Some counties knock $10,000 or more off assessed value. Others freeze your assessed value at the level it was when you first claimed the exemption, so taxes stay flat as home prices climb.
Amounts and rules vary because each is created by county-level legislation. A $10,000 local exemption at 30 mills saves $300 a year; at 35 mills, $350. In counties with an assessment freeze, the gap between frozen and current value widens the longer you stay.
Your county tax assessor’s office can tell you exactly what local exemptions exist and what they’re worth at current millage rates. Many counties publish this online.
A Worked Example
Say your home has a fair market value of $350,000, your county’s combined millage rate is 32 mills, and the county offers a $10,000 local exemption on top of the $2,000 state exemption.
- Assessed value: $350,000 × 40% = $140,000
- Total exemption: $2,000 + $10,000 = $12,000
- Taxable value: $140,000 − $12,000 = $128,000
- Tax with exemptions: $128,000 × 0.032 = $4,096
- Tax without exemptions: $140,000 × 0.032 = $4,480
- Annual savings: $384
If the floating exemption also applies and your base-year assessed value was $125,000 against a current $140,000, taxable value drops further, adding roughly $480 in savings that year. Over a decade of steady appreciation, the floating exemption alone can save thousands.
Senior Exemptions
Georgia offers several age-based exemptions, applied on top of the standard and any local exemptions.
Age 62 and older, school taxes. If total household income for the prior year is $10,000 or less, you can claim up to $10,000 off assessed value for school taxes. Retirement income, pensions, and Social Security are excluded from the income calculation up to the maximum Social Security benefit ($96,432 for 2025), so most retirees living mainly on those sources will qualify.4Department of Revenue. Property Tax Homestead Exemptions
Age 62 and older, inflation-proof floating. With total household income of $30,000 or less, including income of others living in the home, you may qualify for a floating exemption that freezes assessed value at the base-year level.4Department of Revenue. Property Tax Homestead Exemptions
Age 65 and older, county taxes. With prior-year household income of $10,000 or less, you can claim a $4,000 exemption from all county ad valorem taxes.4Department of Revenue. Property Tax Homestead Exemptions
The income limits look extreme, but the exclusion for Social Security and other retirement income means they’re really measuring only wages, rental income, or investment returns. A retiree living on Social Security almost certainly clears the bar. If your income later rises past the threshold, you must tell the county tax commissioner so the exemption can come off.4Department of Revenue. Property Tax Homestead Exemptions
Disabled Veteran and Surviving Spouse Exemptions
An honorably discharged veteran rated 100 percent disabled by the VA, or compensated at the 100 percent rate for unemployability, can exempt up to $121,812 (the 2025 figure) from assessed value. The amount is indexed annually by the U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Veterans with a statutory loss of use of hands, feet, or eyesight qualify even with an overall rating below 100 percent.6Georgia Department of Veterans Service. Disabled Veteran Homestead Tax Exemption
If assessed value is at or below the exemption, the veteran pays no property tax on the home. The exemption passes to the unremarried surviving spouse or minor children as long as they continue to live there.4Department of Revenue. Property Tax Homestead Exemptions
Two other survivor categories qualify. The surviving spouse of a service member killed in war or armed conflict gets the greater of $32,500 or the maximum granted to a disabled veteran under federal law (the same indexed figure).7Justia Law. Georgia Code 48-5-52.1 – Exemption From Ad Valorem Taxation The surviving spouse of a peace officer or firefighter killed in the line of duty is exempt on the full value of the homestead as long as the spouse remains unremarried and living in the home.4Department of Revenue. Property Tax Homestead Exemptions
How and When to Apply
File with the county tax commissioner’s or tax assessor’s office where your home is located.8Georgia.gov. Apply for a Homestead Exemption The deadline is April 1 of the tax year the exemption should apply to. Miss it, and you wait until the following year.
Bring proof of ownership (your recorded deed) and proof you live at the property (a Georgia driver’s license or state ID showing the address, plus your vehicle registration).8Georgia.gov. Apply for a Homestead Exemption Property held in trust requires the trust document and an affidavit. Special exemptions need extra paperwork: income documentation for seniors, a VA letter of adjudication for the veteran exemption, or proof of a line-of-duty death for surviving spouse benefits.
Once approved, the exemption renews automatically each year, as long as ownership and residency stay the same.8Georgia.gov. Apply for a Homestead Exemption No annual re-application. If you sell, move out, start renting the property, or otherwise stop meeting the requirements, you’re required to notify the county tax commissioner.
What Happens If You Claim It Wrong
Filing a false or fraudulent claim, making a false statement to support one, or helping someone else file a fraudulent claim is a misdemeanor. On top of criminal charges, the property is taxed at double the amount otherwise owed.9Justia Law. Georgia Code 48-5-51 – Fraudulent Claim of Homestead Exemption, Penalty
The common trap is not fraud but forgetfulness: a homeowner moves, claims a new homestead exemption at the new address, and never removes the old one. That double claim triggers the same penalty. If you move, tell your former county’s tax commissioner before the next tax year begins.
If Your Application Is Denied
File a written appeal with the county board of tax assessors within 45 days of the denial notice. In the appeal, you choose your forum: the county board of equalization, a hearing officer, or nonbinding arbitration.10House of Representatives – State of Georgia. Summary of Appeal Process O.C.G.A. 48-5-311 For most homestead denials, the board of equalization is the standard path. The board announces its decision at the hearing and issues a written ruling. If you disagree, you have 30 days from that written decision to appeal to superior court.