So the $500 tax refund Georgia is sending out is honestly pretty cool, but not everyone is getting it. From what I've seen, you have to be a full-time Georgia resident, not be claimed as someone else's dependent in 2023, and you need to have filed tax returns for both 2023 and 2024. If you're married and filing jointly, that's the group that gets the whole $500. Single filers get $250, and heads of household get $375.

But here's where it gets kind of annoying: if you owe money to the state (like unpaid taxes or child support), that $500 can get taken by the government to cover your debt before you see any of it. I remember my cousin got excited about the last rebate, but since he owed some state fines, the tax refund totally disappeared, which sucked.

Another thing is, if you filed late or missed one of those years, they're not handing you that tax refund. It also won't count towards your 2025 taxes or anything like that, and it's not counted as taxable income. So, it helps a lot, but only if you tick all those boxes. I'm glad my parents both filed on time, so they're set, but you gotta pay attention to those details!