Georgia Tax

• Georgia levies income tax on residents if they owe federal income tax, or if they have income the federal government doesn't tax but the state does. This applies as long as you're a legal Georgia resident, even if you're temporarily absent from your home or working outside the state. The state considers you a resident if you have a permanent place to live there, and you've lived in-state at least 30 days, not counting brief absences.
  
  

The Tax Credit

• If you're a full-time, year-round resident of another state, divide your out-of-state adjustable gross income by the total adjusted gross income you earned while a Georgia resident. If the result is 40 percent, for example, you can write off 40 percent of your Georgia standard deduction and exemption against your out-of-state income. Take the resulting figure and see how much tax you'd have paid on that in Georgia. Then claim either that amount or the out-of-state income tax you actually paid as your credit, whichever is smaller.
  
  

Resident Status

• If you moved into or out of Georgia partway through the year, you only pay tax on the income you earned while a Georgia resident, or while working in Georgia. You can claim a credit for out-of-state tax payments, just like a full-time resident. If you're a nonresident who works in Georgia, you'll have to pay Georgia unless your income there is less than five percent of your total income. You can claim the payments as a credit against your home state's income tax.
  
  

Considerations

• If you're a Georgia resident working overseas, there's no state credit for tax you pay to other countries. If you serve in the military and claim Georgia as your state of residence, you only have to pay state taxes to Georgia, no matter which state you're stationed in. Conversely, if you're stationed in Georgia, you don't pay taxes there as long as you claim your home in another state. The same rules usually apply to military spouses.