The Georgia Department of Revenue (DOR), has begun the processing of individual income tax returns. In 2017, the DOR processed over 4.3 million individual income tax returns, with an average processing time of just over 5 days for an electronically filed, error free return. The DOR works diligently to be as efficient as possible in processing returns and issuing of refunds while maintaining the highest levels of security in protecting confidential taxpayer information and state tax dollars.

In addition to upgrading the state-of-the-art fraud management system, which blocked over $212 million in fraudulently filed refund requests from being released in 2017, the DOR has been working with the IRS, the tax industry, and other state revenue departments as part of the Security Summit initiative to continue strengthening processing systems to protect taxpayers from identity theft and refund fraud. The DOR and Summit partners continue to improve these safeguards to further protect taxpayers filing in 2018.

Reminders for Individual Income Tax Filers:

  • DOR began processing 2017 individual income tax returns today, February 1, 2018.
  • Most error free, electronically filed returns are processed within 5 business days of receiving the return and most refunds are issued within 21 days from the date a taxpayer files their return.
  • If a return contains incorrect or questionable information, it may take more than 90 days from the date of receipt by DOR to process a return and issue a refund.
  • All first-time Georgia income tax filers, or taxpayers who have not filed in GA for at least five years, will receive their refund in the form of a paper check.
  • The filing deadline to submit 2017 tax returns is Tuesday, April 17, 2018, rather than the traditional April 15 date. In 2018, April 15 falls on a Sunday, and the following Monday is a holiday in the District of Columbia.

“Combatting tax fraud is especially important considering the amount of personal information that has been compromised over the past few years with several large-scale data breaches,” said DOR Commissioner Lynne Riley.

Media Contact

Name: William Gaston
Phone: (404) 417-2286
Cell: (470) 725-5265
Email address: [email protected]