Several retirees have reached out to 11Alive wondering why they haven't received a check.

ATLANTA — Georgia retirees who pay taxes have reached out to 11Alive wondering why they haven’t received any of the state’s special tax refund checks.

Question

Can retirees qualify for the Georgia surplus checks approved by Governor Brian Kemp?

Sources

Answer

Yes, but it depends on who’s getting your tax payments.

What we found

To qualify for the latest round of checks you have to have paid taxes to the state of Georgia on any income you earned in 2021.

Retirees might have to pay federal taxes on Social Security, but according to the Georgia Department of Revenue that income is exempt from state taxes.

Retirees do pay state taxes on other income like pensions or investments, but Rackliffe said in Georgia there are tax breaks for seniors.

For example, if you’re over 65 you don’t pay state taxes until you make over $65,000.

“Of course you’d be paying federal taxes, but for state purposes that money is not taxable,” Rackliffe explained. “Confusion often arises because all of these incomes are taxable for federal purposes, so if you’re a retiree you’re thinking, ‘of course I’ve paid taxes,’ and sure you did, but it was for the federal government, to the IRS, and not so much for the state.”

If you’re between 62 and 64, you don’t start paying state income tax until you’ve earned $35,000.

If your income is less than that, and you don’t pay taxes to the state of Georgia, you don’t qualify for the special tax refund.

“The special rule in Georgia is really to encourage retirees to come and stay in the state of Georgia,” Rackliffe added.

To check the status of your check click here.

So we can Verify that it is possible for a retiree to get one of the state’s special tax refund checks as long as they’re earning enough to pay income tax to the state.