Georgia property tax is a local charge based on three numbers: the fair market value your county assigns to your property, a 40% assessment ratio set by state law, and the millage rates adopted each year by your county, school district, and city. Multiply the assessed value by the combined millage, subtract any exemptions you qualify for, and you have your bill. Counties handle assessment, billing, and collection, so due dates and some penalty amounts vary depending on where you live.
What Georgia Taxes
State law treats all real and personal property as taxable unless a specific exemption applies.1Justia. Georgia Code 48-5-3 – Taxable Property Real property is land and anything permanently attached to it. Personal property covers movable items like business equipment and furniture in a rental. Real property is taxed in the county where the land sits; personal property is generally taxed where the owner lives.2Georgia Department of Revenue. Property Tax Valuation
Most motor vehicles are not on this annual cycle. Georgia charges a one-time Title Ad Valorem Tax (TAVT) when a title transfers or a new resident first registers a vehicle. The standard rate is 7% of fair market value, with 3% for new residents and 0.5% for family transfers and inherited vehicles already in the TAVT system.3Georgia Department of Revenue. Vehicle Taxes – Title Ad Valorem Tax (TAVT) TAVT is paid at the tag office, so these vehicles will not appear on your annual property tax bill.
How the Assessed Value Is Set
Georgia uses “fair market value,” meaning the price a knowledgeable buyer would pay a willing seller when neither is under pressure. The county Board of Tax Assessors appraises the property, and your taxable assessment is exactly 40% of that fair market value.4Justia. Georgia Code 48-5-7 – Assessment of Tangible Property A home valued at $350,000 has an assessed value of $140,000, and that $140,000 is what the millage rate is applied to.
Owners of agricultural land, timberland, and environmentally sensitive land can apply for a Conservation Use Valuation Assessment. Qualifying land is assessed at 40% of its current-use value rather than full market value, in exchange for a 10-year covenant to keep the property in its qualifying use. Breaking the covenant early triggers a penalty.5Georgia Department of Revenue. Conservation Use Land Values
Millage Rates and How Your Bill Is Built
One mill equals one-thousandth of a dollar, so each mill produces $1 in tax for every $1,000 of assessed value.6Justia. Georgia Code 48-5-32.1 – Certification of Assessed Taxable Value of Property and Method of Computation Your bill typically stacks several rates together: one for county operations, one for the school district, and sometimes one for a city or special district. If the county sets 10 mills and the school district sets 15 mills, you pay 25 mills on your assessed value. On a $140,000 assessment, that is $3,500 before exemptions.
Homestead Exemptions
If you own a home in Georgia and live in it as your primary residence on January 1, you likely qualify for at least one homestead exemption. Apply through your county tax office by April 1 of the year you first claim the exemption.7Georgia Department of Revenue. Property Tax Homestead Exemptions Most counties renew the exemption automatically each year as long as you keep living in the home. Miss the April 1 deadline the first time and you lose the exemption for that entire tax year.
Standard Homestead Exemption
The basic statewide homestead exemption shields $2,000 of assessed value from state and county property taxes.8Justia. Georgia Code 48-5-44 – Exemption of Homestead From Ad Valorem Taxation Many counties and school districts layer additional local exemptions on top of the state figure, and those local amounts vary widely. Call your county tax office to see what applies to your address.
Senior Homestead Exemption
Homeowners age 65 and older can claim an additional $4,000 exemption from state and county ad valorem taxes if household net income, including a spouse living in the home, did not exceed $10,000 in the prior year. That cap is less restrictive than it appears, because Social Security benefits, retirement pensions, and disability payments are excluded up to the maximum Social Security benefit amount.9Justia. Georgia Code 48-5-47 – Applications for Homestead Exemptions Many retirees whose income comes from Social Security and a pension fall well under the threshold.
Disabled Veteran Exemption
Veterans rated 100% disabled by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, or compensated at the 100% level for individual unemployability, can exempt a substantial portion of their home’s value from all ad valorem taxes. The exemption is the greater of $32,500 or the maximum grant amount under 38 U.S.C. § 2102, which adjusts annually for construction cost inflation. For the 2026 tax year, that figure is $126,526.10Fulton County Board of Assessors. 2026 Homestead Maximum for Disabled Veterans and Surviving Spouses Unremarried surviving spouses and minor children of qualifying veterans receive the same exemption while they continue living in the home.11FindLaw. Georgia Code 48-5-48 – Homestead Exemption for Disabled Veterans Veterans qualifying under narrower categories, such as loss of use of a limb or loss of sight, are also eligible. The application goes through your county tax office with documentation of the VA disability rating.
If You Own a Business
Business owners file an annual personal property tax return listing equipment, furniture, fixtures, and other tangible business assets. The filing window runs from January 1 through April 1, and the return goes to your county tax office.12Justia. Georgia Code 48-5-18 – Time for Making Tax Returns The county uses your return to determine fair market value and assess it at the standard 40% ratio.
Following a 2024 constitutional referendum, business personal property with a total fair market value of $20,000 or less within a county is exempt from ad valorem tax. You still file the return, but no tax bill goes out if your assets stay under the threshold. The prior exemption was $7,500, so many small businesses with modest equipment now owe nothing on personal property.
Payment Deadlines
Georgia does not set a single statewide due date. O.C.G.A. § 48-5-23 lets each local government set its own billing cycle and installment schedule, so some counties bill once a year while others split the bill into two installments with summer and fall due dates. Any taxes unpaid by December 20 or 60 days after billing, whichever comes later, become subject to penalties and interest.13Justia. Georgia Code 48-5-23 – Collection and Payment of Taxes Your bill lists the dates that apply to you.
Most counties accept payment online through the tax commissioner’s website, by mail, or in person. If a mortgage company handles the payment from an escrow account, confirm it actually went through, because a missed payment is charged back to you as the property owner.
Penalties and Tax Sales
Delinquent balances accrue interest at the federal bank prime rate plus 3%, compounded monthly. For 2026, that rate is 9.75%.14Georgia Department of Revenue. Annual Notice of Interest Rate Adjustment Penalties come on top of interest and range from 5% to 10% of the tax due, depending on county population provisions in the statute.15FindLaw. Georgia Code 48-5-24 – Payment of Taxes
If the balance stays unpaid, the tax collector issues a tax execution (a “fi. fa.”), which becomes a lien against the property. The county can then sell the property at a public tax sale. You must receive at least 10 days’ written notice by certified mail or statutory overnight delivery before that sale.16Justia. Georgia Code 48-4-1 – Procedures for Sales Under Tax Levies and Executions
You do not lose the property immediately after a tax sale. Georgia law gives you at least 12 months from the sale date to redeem by paying the purchaser what they paid at auction plus the redemption costs specified in O.C.G.A. § 48-4-42, which include statutory interest and fees.17Justia. Georgia Code 48-4-40 – Persons Entitled to Redeem Land The right to redeem can extend past 12 months until the purchaser forecloses it through a separate notice process. Once that window closes, the buyer takes clear title and the property is gone.
Appealing Your Assessment
Every year the Board of Tax Assessors mails a notice showing your appraised value, your assessed value, and your appeal rights. You have 45 days from the date on that notice to file a written appeal with the Board of Tax Assessors.18Justia. Georgia Code 48-5-306 – Annual Notice of Current Assessment The clock runs from the mailing date, not the day you opened the envelope, so check your mail during assessment season. Miss the 45 days and you lose the right to challenge that year’s value.
Three grounds are available: the value is wrong, the property should have been classified differently or exempted, or your assessment is not uniform compared with similar properties. The Board of Tax Assessors reviews the appeal internally first. If the disagreement is not resolved, the case moves to the county Board of Equalization, a three-member panel of local property owners.19Justia. Georgia Code 48-5-311 – Creation of County Boards of Equalization At the hearing you can present comparable sales data, photographs of the property’s condition, or an independent appraisal.
Burden of Proof and Cost Recovery
Georgia’s Property Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights shifts some weight in your favor. When the Board of Tax Assessors changes the value you reported on your return, the board carries the burden of proving the change is valid. If the board rejects your appeal position, it must explain its reasoning in writing and cannot introduce new arguments later. You can reschedule a Board of Equalization hearing once if the time is inconvenient.20Georgia Department of Revenue. Property Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights
If the final determination puts your property’s value at 85% or less of what the Board of Equalization originally set, you can recover litigation costs and reasonable attorney’s fees. That provision gives owners meaningful leverage when a county’s number is significantly off.
Hearing Officer Path for High-Value Commercial Property
Owners of non-homestead real property valued at $1 million or more have an additional option. After receiving the Board of Equalization’s decision, they can request a hearing officer within 30 days. The hearing officer issues a binding written decision on fair market value, and either side can appeal to Superior Court within 30 days. This route is generally used for commercial and investment properties where the stakes justify the added formality.