Georgia Capital Gains Tax – All You need To Know!

Georgia Capital Gains Tax Rates

August 24, 2004
By Niles Brohey

Capital gains taxes in Georgia are applied in a way determined by federal law. This means that you will pay the same rate of capital gains tax in Georgia as you will in any state of the US. However there are subtle differences in regulations and ancillary taxes which you should be aware of when making capital trades within Georgia.

As with all the US, any gains made from trading short term capital assets (those owned for less than one year) will be taxed at the same rate as your income. When trading long term capital assets the applicable rate is determined by two factors – your income and what the asset you are trading is. Assets such as real estate and collectibles are taxed at a special flat rate (of 25% and 28% respectively), other capital gains are taxed at a rate determined by your income. If you pay 15% income tax or less you will pay 5% capital gains tax, if you pay a higher rate of income tax your capital gains will be taxed at 15%.

An important issue to be aware of when dealing with real estate sales in Georgia is the real estate transfer tax. Real estate transfer tax is an excise tax on transactions involving the sale of real property where title to the property is transferred from the seller to the buyer.

The real estate transfer tax is based upon the property's sale price at the rate of $1 for the first $1,000 or fractional part of $1,000 and at the rate of 10 cents for each additional $100 or fractional part of $100. The real estate transfer tax is paid by the seller unless otherwise agreed by contract between the parties.