Georgia program
Check Georgia taxes for the treatment year
A tax preparer can check Georgia credits and deductions using the treatment year’s rules and your receipts.
What it is
A tax preparer can check Georgia credits and deductions using the treatment year’s rules and your receipts.
Medical and care costs can lower your state tax in more than one place, and Georgia's rules differ from the federal ones. A preparer sorts your receipts into the right credit without counting a cost twice.
Eligibility rules
- Georgia’s qualified caregiving credit is 10% of eligible expenses, up to $150. The qualifying relative must be age 62 or older or determined disabled by Social Security.
- Georgia enacted a $250 credit per qualifying child under 6 beginning in tax year 2026.
- For the caregiving credit, eligible services must come from someone unrelated to both you and the qualifying relative. Costs already deducted in Georgia or excluded from income cannot qualify again. The credit cannot exceed Georgia income tax due and has no carryforward or carryback. For the $250 under-six credit beginning in 2026, a preparer checks the final form and child, custody and claimant rules.
What you get
- A possible reduction in Georgia income tax when the return meets a credit’s conditions.
What the help includes
- The actual tax reduction depends on the return and eligible costs. The same expense cannot be claimed twice.
- Qualifying caregiving costs can include home health, personal-care attendants, homemaker services, adult day care, respite, and physician-prescribed equipment or supplies. DOR’s relationship and expense rules still apply.
If you decide to apply
- Ask a tax preparer or free tax-assistance site to review the treatment-year Georgia return.
- Have ready: the prior return, medical and care receipts, benefit notices and the child’s age information.
A tax preparer or free tax-assistance site; Georgia Department of Revenue
After you ask
- The preparer uses the final form and instructions for the treatment year. Line numbers from an older return can be wrong.
- Only one parent can claim the $250 credit for a child under six, and it cannot be carried into a later year.
Good to know
Your child's cancer does not on its own meet a tax credit's disability test; the preparer checks that separately.
Other details
- Georgia’s child and dependent care expense credit increased to 50% of the federal credit allowed for tax years beginning January 1, 2025. It is different from the $150 qualified caregiving credit and the under-six credit that starts in 2026. A preparer can check which provision fits and prevent the same cost being used where the rules prohibit it.
Official sources
“Which Georgia tax provisions fit our child’s age, disability status and treatment-year expenses? What are the benefits and drawbacks, and would you help us find a preparer and claim only what fits?”
Why I’m asking: I want to keep the right records and avoid overlooking a credit or counting the same expense twice.
More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules
Who does what
The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.
You
Bring receipts and the prior return to a tax preparer or free tax-assistance site.
Your social worker
The hospital social worker helps locate the right office and gather supporting records.
The care team
Records and letters when the application asks for them.
- Who decides
- The agency or plan named in the first step
- Ask your social worker
- “Which state medical or care provisions apply to this tax year, and what records do you need?”
How to apply
First step: Bring receipts and the prior return to a tax preparer or free tax-assistance site.
- Bring receipts and the prior return to a tax preparer or free tax-assistance site.
Where it starts: Bring receipts and the prior return to a tax preparer or free tax-assistance site.
What to gather
- The relevant plan or benefit notice
- Documents showing the need and relevant income
How long: Ask the deciding office for its current processing time.
What a yes looks like
Written confirmation of the benefit, its scope and any cost.
What a no looks like, and the next move
Ask for the reason in writing and the review route.
Watch out
- Georgia’s qualified caregiving credit is 10% of eligible expenses, up to $150, for a qualifying relative aged 62 or older or determined disabled by Social Security. Do not claim the same expense twice.
- Georgia enacted a $250 credit per qualifying child under six beginning with tax year 2026. Ask the preparer to check the final treatment-year form and all conditions; do not use an older return’s line numbers.
The numbers and the rules
The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 10, 2026.
What it is worth
A possible reduction in state tax; the amount depends on the return and qualifying expenses.
Covers: A possible reduction in state tax; the amount depends on the return and qualifying expenses.
What it costs the family: Ask the agency or plan to confirm any charge before committing.
The eligibility facts, as published
- Review
- The agency or plan must confirm the conditions described here.
The trap: The agency or plan checks the conditions; this guide does not decide the application.
Where I read this
- Georgia DOR Caregiving Credit — dor.georgia.gov, read September 10, 2026
- Georgia DOR Caregiving Credit — dor.georgia.gov, read September 10, 2026
- Georgia DOR 2025 Enacted Legislation — dor.georgia.gov, read September 10, 2026