news.bloombergtax.com · September 8, 2026
Georgia Tax Court Will Help Make Taxpayer Appeals More Efficient
# Georgia Tax Court Will Help Make Taxpayer Appeals More Efficient
Sept. 8, 2026, 8:30 AM UTC
Clark Calhoun Alston & Bird
Kathleen Cornett Alston & Bird
The Georgia Tax Court will have an expanded ability to hear new types of actions and to decide a broader range of issues.
Photographer: Dustin Chambers/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Georgia Tax Court, a new specialized judicial-branch forum for resolving Georgia tax disputes, began accepting cases in July. We expect the tax court, which replaces the executive-branch tax tribunal, to be an efficient and attractive option for taxpayer appeals.
But although we think it will be the best available forum for most state-administered Georgia tax disputes, it may not be the right answer 100% of the time. Taxpayers and their representatives should consider the specific issues and facts to determine which forum is the most appropriate for their case.
## Why Now
By having access to a judicial-branch court focused on tax cases, Georgia taxpayers benefit from a specialized forum while gaining the right to appeal directly to a Georgia appellate court.
Taxpayers still have the option to contest a tax assessment in their local superior court instead of the tax court, but that requires prepaying the tax or posting a bond. For that reason alone, we would expect most taxpayers to prefer the tax court.
The old system required first appealing tax tribunal decisions to Fulton County Superior Court — with all the delays and expense you would expect from a general trial court with a heavy caseload serving the Atlanta area — before seeking further review with an appellate court. Although review to the Georgia Court of Appeals was technically discretionary in most cases, it was always granted in practice, making the intermediate appeal to superior court an unnecessary burden on time and resources.
The tax court’s second major benefit relates to its expanded ability to hear new types of actions and to decide a broader range of issues. Specifically, the tax tribunal couldn’t address constitutional issues, and there was uncertainty about whether it had the authority to consider arguments on anything outside of Georgia’s tax code.
The new tax court, approved by voters in a 2024 constitutional amendment, solves this problem. It can decide constitutional issues and consider any other legal arguments, and its jurisdiction also includes the authority to rule on declaratory judgment actions and to decide other requests for equitable relief.
## Ins and Outs
Although the court is a new forum, much of the day-to-day practice should resemble that of the tax tribunal. For example, practitioners appreciated the tribunal’s practice of automatically remanding newly filed cases to the Department of Revenue for settlement discussions, which often resolved disputes without formal litigation.
The court’s July 13 standing remand order maintains that practice, automatically remanding each newly filed case to the Department of Revenue for 90 days for the parties to confer in good faith and discuss resolution.
Either party may return the case to the court with 10 days’ written notice, and all parties may agree to return the case to the court at any time within those 90 days. If the matter isn’t resolved, it returns to the tax court for a post-remand conference.
Trials are de novo and governed by the rules of evidence used in civil nonjury trials before the superior court. The tax court encourages streamlined discovery by requiring parties to make every effort to conduct discovery informally and to stipulate to relevant, undisputed facts. The court may limit discovery that is unduly burdensome or expensive.
The tax court’s regular case decisions will be published on its website’s docket search. Tax court judges must follow its precedent unless it conflicts with an appellate court or the judge provides satisfactory reasons to depart from precedent.
Although tax tribunal decisions aren’t binding on the tax court, taxpayers and the Department of Revenue may continue to cite them as persuasive authority. Additionally, virtual hearings will be permitted in certain circumstances, making the forum more accessible to taxpayers.
Taxpayers will raise questions about whether the former revenue commissioner can impartially evaluate cases in which the judge’s former employer is a party. Chief Judge Frank O’Connell acknowledged that potential concern and plans to recuse himself upon request; in those cases, Judge Charles Beaudrot, the first judge of the Georgia Tax Tribunal, will serve as the judge.
## Rules and Filing
O’Connell developed the proposed rules with input from a small committee of practitioners and Department of Revenue personnel. He said he is reviewing comments on the draft rules and aims to submit them for review by the Georgia Supreme Court soon. Until the court’s rules are finalized, the court will apply Georgia’s Uniform Superior Court Rules.
The tax court plans to implement electronic filing. O’Connell stated that the court staff is working with vendors on the e-filing system to accept petitions and other filings, issue notices to parties, and offer an electronic docketing system that allows parties (and the public) to search for and download publicly available filings.
He hopes the court can accept e-filed petitions soon. Until then, all petitions will have to be filed by mail to the court; taxpayers and practitioners can find the most current filing requirements and procedures on the tax court’s How to File a Petition webpage.
The new tax court is an exciting development for Georgia taxpayers because it preserves access to a specialized forum while modernizing administration of disputes, providing direct access to appellate courts, and broadening the forum’s jurisdiction.
This article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg Industry Group Inc., the publisher of Bloomberg Law, Bloomberg Tax, and Bloomberg Government, or its owners.
## Author Information
Kathleen Cornett is counsel with Alston & Bird’s state and local tax group.
Laurin McDonald is counsel at Alston & Bird focusing on tax controversy and litigation.
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