ATLANTA — As state lawmakers on both sides address affordability issues, one is trying to eliminate state income tax on tips.
The bill is modeled after President Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill and the exemption, up to a point, on taxing tips
On a frigidly cold day at the corner of Forsyth Street and MLK Boulevard, Safi Jamil and his mother, Jasmine, were busy making sandwiches at their sub and salad shop.
They’ve been preparing sandwiches for downtown Atlanta workers for years, and for some reporters, too.
“Right now, it’s colder, so the business is a little bit lower. We just got done with Christmas and New Year’s, so once it picks up, it gets better,” Safi Jamil told Channel 2’s Richard Elliot.
Jamil didn’t know that just five blocks away at the State Capitol, lawmakers were considering a bill that would exempt all the tips he gets from state income tax.
He thinks that’s a pretty good idea.
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“I think it’s a great idea, honestly. Truthfully, there’s a lot of people who work in that sector, and they don’t get paid a lot. Two dollars, three dollars an hour. And then the tax is what they live off of. So, I feel like they shouldn’t be taxed on that,” Safi Jamil said.
Republican State Sen. Greg Dolezal wrote the bill. He said they’re working to eliminate all state income tax. But until then, he said, this will do.
“We saw millions of Georgians rally behind the idea of lowering taxes for some of the hard-working Georgians that work in the service industry, and we’re looking to get that across the finish line,” Dolezal said.
Democratic State Sen. Harold Jones worries that the push to cut all taxes could go too far and affect essential services.
Still, he said, it’s an idea that has some merit.
“I worked in the restaurant industry. I was a dishwasher, and so I understand about what waitresses go through, and those sorts go through. So, it’s probably a decent idea, but we’ve got to look at the details, too,” Jones said.
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