Georgia Payroll Tax Guide (2026)
House Bill 463 dropped Georgia withholding from 5.19% to a flat 4.99% on 11 May 2026, and employers still owe unemployment tax on the first $9,500 of each worker plus the 0.06% administrative assessment that is set to expire on 31 December 2026.[5]
Georgia payroll at a glance
Georgia runs two state payroll taxes: employer paid unemployment insurance plus a 0.06% administrative assessment, and employee income tax withholding at a flat rate the state cut again in May 2026.[5]
What changed for Georgia payroll in 2026
Six items moved for Georgia employers this year. Anything below is what have changed since the 2025 tables, so a rate card carried over from last year will be wrong in at least one place.
2026 Georgia payroll tax calculator
Enter one employee’s annual gross wages to see what the employer owes, what comes out of the paycheque, and the true cost of employment.
Employer pays
Withheld from the employee
State income tax withholding is not included above: it depends on the employee’s Form G-4 and filing status, so it cannot be estimated from gross pay alone.
Payroll tax rates & the nexus question
Georgia runs three state payroll taxes. The table below is the whole state layer for 2026.[5]
The state payroll taxes
| Tax | Paid by | 2026 rate | Wage base |
|---|---|---|---|
| UI | Employer | 0.04%–8.10%; 2.64% new | $9,500 |
| Administrative Assessment | Employer | 0.06% | $9,500 |
| Income tax withholding | Employee | 4.99% flat | No limit |
Georgia does not publish a lettered schedule. Rates come from the variable rate tables in O.C.G.A. 34-8-155, adjusted by the state-wide reserve ratio under 34-8-156, and the 0.06% administrative assessment sits on top, so a new employer pays 2.70% all in.[5]
Supplemental wages have their own rate. Bonuses, commissions and other supplemental payments are withheld at 4.99% when paid separately from regular wages. That is a state rate only; federal supplemental withholding is a separate 22% layer.[2]
Who has to register
Paying $1,500 or more in wages in any calendar quarter, or having at least one worker in 20 different calendar weeks in a year. Domestic employment triggers at $1,000 in a quarter, agricultural at $20,000 in a quarter or 10 workers in 20 weeks, and a 501(c)(3) at 4 workers in 20 weeks.[5] Income tax withholding is administered separately by Georgia Department of Revenue, so most employers end up with two state account numbers, not one.
Multistate and remote employees
When an employee works in more than one state, the four-part test below decides which state the wages are reported to. The tests run in order: you stop at the first one that gives an answer.
- 1. Localisation of service→
- 2. Base of operations→
- 3. Place of direction & control→
- 4. Employee’s residence
One remote employee is usually enough. A single person working from home in Georgia generally creates an obligation to register and report wages here, even if the business has no office, property or customers in the state.
Confused by Georgia’s payroll withholding & filing rules?
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Ask a Payroll SpecialistRegistration & return filing
Registration is online and free. The unemployment account and, where one exists, the withholding account are opened separately and carry different numbers.[5]
How to register
- Cross the wage threshold→
- Employer Portal→
- Receive account number→
- Form DOL-626 Annual Tax Rate Notice→
- File & deposit online
Paying $1,500 or more in wages in any calendar quarter, or having at least one worker in 20 different calendar weeks in a year. Domestic employment triggers at $1,000 in a quarter, agricultural at $20,000 in a quarter or 10 workers in 20 weeks, and a 501(c)(3) at 4 workers in 20 weeks.[5]
Deposit schedule
Assigned from the lookback period. More than $50,000 withheld is semi-weekly, more than $200 a month is monthly, $200 or less a month but more than $800 a year is quarterly, and $800 or less a year is annual.[2]
Returns, reports & due dates
| Form | What it is | Due |
|---|---|---|
| Form DOL-4N Employer’s Quarterly Tax and Wage Report | Quarterly unemployment return | April 30, July 31, October 31, January 31 |
| Form GA-V monthly payment voucher, not required if paying electronically, and Form G-7… | Income tax withholding returns | Assigned from the lookback period. More than $50,000 withheld is s |
| Annual reconciliation | Year-end withholding reconciliation | January 31 |
| Form 941 | Federal quarterly return | Last day of the month after quarter end |
| Form 940 | Federal unemployment, annual | January 31 |
| New hire report | Report of newly hired employees | Within 20 days of start date |
Quarterly unemployment returns are due April 30, July 31, October 31, January 31. A return filed one day late is delinquent, and in most states the penalty attaches to the return, not the payment.[5]
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Subject wages vs. exempt payments
Not every dollar an employee receives is a taxable wage. The split below governs what goes into the unemployment wage base and what is reported at year end.[5]
Subject wages
- Salaries, hourly pay, overtime and piece rates
- Commissions, bonuses and incentive pay
- Most cash tips reported by the employee
- Vacation, holiday and paid sick leave when taken as wages
- Severance and payments in lieu of notice
- The cash value of meals and lodging provided as compensation
- Employer contributions to a non-qualified deferred compensation plan
Not subject
- Reimbursements of genuine business expenses under an accountable plan
- Employer contributions to a qualified retirement plan
- Employer-paid premiums for accident and health insurance
- Most third-party sick pay after the sixth calendar month
- Payments to a genuine independent contractor
- Workers compensation benefits
The wage base is per employer, per year, not per job. If you hire someone in August who already earned $9,500 elsewhere, your unemployment clock still starts at zero. The one exception is a successor employer taking over an existing payroll, who inherits the wages already paid.
Glossary of key terms
- Taxable wage base
- The slice of each employee’s annual pay that unemployment tax is calculated on. In Georgia that is $9,500 for 2026. Earnings above it are still wages, they are simply no longer taxed for unemployment.
- Experience rating
- The method Georgia Department of Labor uses to set each employer’s own unemployment rate from its history of claims. Employers with fewer charged claims move down the schedule; those with more move up.
- New employer rate
- The rate assigned before an employer has enough history to be experience rated. It normally applies for two to three years, then the account moves onto the experience schedule.
- Form G-4
- The state withholding certificate. It sets how much income tax comes out of each cheque and is filed with the employer, not with Georgia Department of Revenue.
- Reserve account
- The running balance of contributions an employer has paid in, less the benefits charged against it. The ratio of that balance to taxable payroll is what drives the assigned rate.
- Successor employer
- A business that acquires another’s payroll may inherit both its experience rate and the wages already paid toward the wage base for the year. Getting this wrong is a common acquisition error.
- Localisation of service
- The first of four tests deciding which state a multistate employee’s wages are reported to. If substantially all the work is in one state, that state wins and the remaining tests are never reached.
- FUTA credit reduction
- A reduction in the 5.4% federal unemployment credit applied to states that have carried an outstanding federal loan for two or more consecutive Januaries. It raises the effective FUTA rate and is settled each November.
- Supplemental wages
- Bonuses, commissions, awards and similar payments made outside the regular payroll cycle. Many states set a separate flat withholding rate for them.
Georgia payroll tax, layer by layer
Federal tax applies everywhere and is the larger number. The state layer is what changes when you cross a border.
Layer 1: Federal
| Tax | Rate | 2026 base |
|---|---|---|
| Social Security | 6.2% each side | $184,500 |
| Medicare | 1.45% each side | No limit |
| Additional Medicare | 0.9% employee only | Over $200,000 |
| FUTA, standard | 0.6% net | $7,000 |
| Federal income tax | Per Form W-4 | No limit |
Georgia has no FUTA credit reduction for 2026, so the standard 0.6% net rate applies, $42 per employee. The final list is not published until 10 November 2026.[13]
Layer 2: State
| Tax | Rate | 2026 base |
|---|---|---|
| UI, new employer | 2.64% | $9,500 |
| UI, experienced | 0.04%–8.10% | $9,500 |
| Administrative Assessment | 0.06% | $9,500 |
| Income tax, standard | 4.99% flat | No limit |
| Income tax, supplemental | 4.99% | No limit |
Layer 3, county & city: no payroll tax, but a wage floor
No county or city in Georgia levies its own payroll or income tax withheld by employers. The local layer shows up as minimum wage, not as tax.[10]
The state minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, which is the federal floor, effective 2009-07-24. The tipped cash wage is $2.13. No local ordinance sets a higher floor. Georgia’s own statutory rate is $5.15 an hour and reaches only employers with six or more employees who fall outside the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Nearly every Georgia employer is FLSA covered and must pay at least $7.25 an hour. No Georgia city or county sets a separate minimum wage.[10]
Overtime exemption is a separate test. A salaried employee is exempt from overtime only above $35,568 a year ($684.00 a week) federal FLSA, and only if the duties test is also met. Paying a salary is not by itself enough.[12]
Georgia payroll FAQs
Withhold at the flat 4.99% rate. House Bill 463 lowered the rate from 5.19% effective 11 May 2026 and it applies to the whole 2026 tax year. The Department of Revenue reissued its 2026 Employer’s Withholding Tax Guide in June 2026 with matching percentage method tables.
A new employer is assigned a 2.64% contribution rate on the first $9,500 of each worker’s wages, plus the 0.06% administrative assessment, which is 2.70% all in. That is up to $256.50 for an employee who earns at least $9,500. Experience rating replaces the new employer rate once you have enough history.
No, because O.C.G.A. 34-8-180 expressly bars employers from deducting the 0.06% administrative assessment from wages. It is reported and paid with the quarterly Form DOL-4N. Employers assigned the minimum or maximum reserve rate and reimbursable employers do not pay it at all.
Registration is required once you pay $1,500 in wages in any calendar quarter or employ at least one worker in 20 different calendar weeks in a year. Domestic employers register at $1,000 in a quarter, and agricultural employers at $20,000 in a quarter or 10 workers in 20 different weeks.
Georgia’s statutory rate is $5.15 an hour, but it reaches only employers with six or more employees who are not covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Nearly every Georgia employer is FLSA covered and must pay at least $7.25 an hour, with a 2.13 dollar cash wage and a 5.12 dollar tip credit for tipped staff.
The Department of Revenue assigns your frequency from the lookback period. More than $50,000 withheld puts you on semi-weekly, more than $200 a month puts you on monthly using Form GA-V, and smaller amounts file quarterly or annually. Every payer still files Form G-7 quarterly and Form G-1003 by 31 January.
$9,500 per employee per calendar year. Once an employee reaches that in wages from you, no further unemployment tax is due on that employee for the rest of the year. The count restarts on 1 January and does not carry over from a previous employer.
$7.25 an hour, which matches the federal floor. No local ordinance sets a higher rate. The tipped cash wage is $2.13.
April 30, July 31, October 31, January 31. A return is delinquent the day after the deadline even if the tax itself was paid on time, so file the return whether or not you can pay.
Sources & methodology
- Georgia Department of Revenue – Important Tax Updates
- Georgia Department of Revenue – Employer’s Withholding Tax Guide 2026 (updated June 2026)
- Office of the Governor of Georgia – Gov. Kemp Signs Legislation Lowering Taxes and Supporting Economic Growth
- Georgia Department of Labor – 2026 Employer Tax Rates Available Now
- Georgia Department of Labor – Unemployment Insurance Tax Reporting and Liability Information for Employers
- Georgia Department of Labor – Employer Tax Rates Released (administrative assessment reinstated under HB 518)
- Justia, Code of Georgia – O.C.G.A. 34-8-180, Assessment on wages; quarterly payment (repealed effective 1/1/2027)
- Justia, Code of Georgia – O.C.G.A. 34-8-155, Variable rate tables
- US Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration – Significant Provisions of State Unemployment Insurance Laws, January 2026
- US Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division – State Minimum Wage Laws
- US Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division – Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees
- US Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division – Fact Sheet 17A, Exemption for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Computer and Outside Sales Employees
- Internal Revenue Service – FUTA Credit Reduction
- Georgia Department of Labor – Learn About Unemployment Taxes and Benefits
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