A law can put more money in your wallet by raising the minimum income required before you start paying state income taxes.
ATLANTA – The new year means new laws for the state of Georgia. Some of them include tax incentives, sexual assault training for medical providers, and the ability for juvenile court judges to hear more evidence.
“It’s not uncommon for doctors to be accused of sexual assault,” said Tom Church, an Atlanta trial attorney.
House Bill 458 will require doctors, the state medical board and medical students to learn more about boundaries and sexual assault.
“Different types of medical providers will have different types of training, but they will focus on sexual misconduct and professionalism,” Church said. “The laws also provide for a new mechanism for suspending the license of physicians.”
Another law will allow juvenile courts to consider more evidence, including hearsay witnesses, to determine a child’s best interests.
“It really opens the door to a lot more information for the judge to consider, which can be a good thing in a lot of cases,” Church explained.
Another law can put more money in your wallet by raising the minimum income required before you start paying state income taxes.
The standard deduction for individuals will increase from $4,600 to $5,400 per year and for married couples applying together from $6,000 to $7,100 per year.
“This is actually a boom for low-income Georgians. So if your income falls below a certain threshold, you may not now have to pay a state tax liability,” said Andra Gillespie, a political scientist at Emory University.
House Bill 32 creates incentives for teachers to work in underperforming and rural schools.
“It gives them a $3,000 tax incentive that can be carried forward into future years if their state income tax liability is less than $3,000,” Gillespie said.
She added that she expects more state tax changes in 2022.
“I think as a political scientist, my focus will be whether there will be a discussion of further tax cuts that would benefit an even wider range of Georgians across the income spectrum,” Gillespie said.
