Georgia Income Tax Abated When a Member Dies in a Combat Zone
O.C.G.A. 48-7-37 exempts from Georgia income tax a member of the armed forces who dies from wounds, disease or injury incurred in a combat zone — for the year of death AND for any prior taxable year ending on or after the first day they served in the combat zone. It reaches backwards, which most abatements do not.
Verified August 27, 2026
What this benefit is
O.C.G.A. 48-7-37 exempts from Georgia income tax a member of the armed forces who dies from wounds, disease or injury incurred in a combat zone — for the year of death AND for any prior taxable year ending on or after the first day they served in the combat zone. It reaches backwards, which most abatements do not.
What it's worth: Georgia income tax exempt for the year of death and prior years back to entering the combat zone
- It covers the year of death AND any prior taxable year ending on or after the first day the member served in the combat zone. The retrospective reach is the unusual part.
- The qualifying death is from wounds, disease or injury incurred in a combat zone.
- Because it reaches prior years, tax already paid for those years may be recoverable — ask, rather than assuming the abatement is prospective only.
- What it is worth depends on the member's Georgia income across those years, so no figure is published.
Who is entitled to it
- You are claiming on the member's behalf.
- The member died from wounds, disease or injury incurred in a combat zone.
- The return is filed in Georgia.
Not sure whether that describes you?
Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.
How to claim it
- 1Contact the Department of Revenue citing O.C.G.A. 48-7-37, and say the death arose from wounds, disease or injury incurred in a combat zone.
- 2Ask about PRIOR YEARS, not just the year of death. The abatement reaches back to the first day in the combat zone, and tax already paid for those years is in scope.
- 3Take the casualty documentation establishing the combat-zone cause.
- 4A tax preparer or a veterans service officer can do this on the family's behalf, which is usually easier at such a time.
- Form
- Claimed with the Department of Revenue
- File with
- Georgia Department of Revenue
- Documents you will need
- dd214
- No renewal
- Once granted it does not need renewing.
Sources
- authority · published policyGeorgia Department of Veterans Service — tax exemptions (O.C.G.A. 48-7-37)
- operating · published policyGeorgia Department of Revenue
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