The state of Georgia is finalizing the implementation of a Surplus Tax Refund program for taxpayers who met their tax obligations for 2023. The program establishes maximum refund amounts based on each individual’s tax filing status.
For single taxpayers or married taxpayers filing separately, the maximum refund is $250. Those who qualify as heads of household can receive up to $375. For married taxpayers filing jointly, the maximum refund is $500.
Over $1 billion in surplus refunds: some still to be sent
Before continuing, I must tell you that these values represent the upper limit, and the actual refund each taxpayer receives could be lower. The final amount depends directly on the taxpayer’s actual tax liability during the 2023 tax year.
The Georgia Department of Revenue calculates the refund based on the taxes actually paid during that period. The distribution of these additional refunds is already in an advanced stage. To date, the Georgia Department of Revenue has processed and issued nearly 3 million individual refunds.
The total value of the funds distributed through this program far exceeds one billion dollars. To give you a precise figure, as of August 5, 2025, the total amount disbursed reached $1,006,766,461.54.
This distributed amount represents, according to official estimates, approximately 90% of the total amount expected to be distributed among all eligible taxpayers in the state. This indicates that the vast majority of beneficiaries who met the standard deadlines have already received their corresponding refund.
This start coincided with the end of the primary filing period for state tax returns for the years 2023 and 2024, provided the latter were filed by the May 1, 2025, deadline.
Tax authorities provided initial estimates of receipt times. It was indicated that, once the required return was filed, taxpayers could expect to receive their extra refund within a general timeframe of 6 to 8 weeks. This timeframe was used as a general guideline for most cases.
Why do some tax refunds arrive sooner than others?
In the most agile cases, taxpayers who opted to file their returns electronically and requested direct deposit of any refund received this additional payment in a significantly shorter timeframe, estimated between two and three weeks after completing their filing. This method is the fastest way to access the refund.
In contrast, taxpayers who chose to file their returns in physical paper format experienced considerably longer processing times. In these cases, the Georgia Department of Revenue warned that processing could take up to eight weeks or even longer from the receipt of the documentation, which naturally delayed receipt of the associated extra refund.
10% of Georgia’s tax refunds have yet to be distributed
A segment of taxpayers, approximately 10% of the total expected, has not yet received their corresponding additional refund. This group is specifically comprised of those taxpayers who were unable to file their 2024 tax return by the standard deadline, which ended May 1, 2025.
The timeframe for this last group could span all the way up to October 2025, so, if you’re among them, don’t panic: your money could be arriving anytime soon.