Georgia's intangible tax changed in 2025, and a lot of calculators still have it wrong

Georgia charges an intangible recording tax when a security deed is recorded: $1.50 for each $500 of the note, or fractional part, capped at $25,000 per instrument. That works out to 0.3% of the loan, which on a $400,000 mortgage is $1,200 — not a rounding error.

But it only applies to a long-term note. That is where the change happened.

What changed on July 1, 2025

Until then, a long-term note meant any note with some portion of principal falling due more than 36 months after the date of the note. House Bill 586 raised that threshold to 62 months.

The practical effect is straightforward: a note that is fully due and payable within 62 months of its date is no longer a long-term note, and owes no intangible recording tax at all.

• Before July 1, 2025: due beyond 36 months → taxable
• Since July 1, 2025: due beyond 62 months → taxable
• Fully due within 62 months → no intangible tax

Who this actually helps

Short-term commercial paper, most obviously. Construction loans, bridge financing, hard-money investor loans and many balloon notes sit squarely in the new gap — taxable under the old rule, exempt under the new one.

On a $600,000 five-year construction loan, that is a $1,800 line item that simply is not there any more.

Consumer refinances are less affected, since most homeowners take 15- or 30-year paper that is long-term either way.

Why it is worth checking your quote

Statutory changes take a long time to propagate through fee sheets, closing cost worksheets and the various online calculators people rely on. More than a year on, plenty of Georgia closing-cost material still describes the 36-month rule.

If you are financing on a short-term note and your estimate shows intangible tax, it is worth a question. Our intangible tax calculator applies the current rule and shows you what the same loan would have cost before the change.

The parts that did not change

• The rate is still $1.50 per $500 of the note, or fractional part — rounded up
• The cap is still $25,000 per instrument, reached at a note of about $8.33 million
• The tax is still imposed on the lender, and still customarily passed to the borrower
• It is still due when the security deed is recorded