What Is The “Fetal Personhood” Provision? $3,000 Tax Exemption Starting At Around Six Weeks Of Pregnancy

Georgia residents can now claim a fetus as a dependent on their tax returns for a $3,000 exemption.

Once the Supreme Court reversed Roe in June 2022, many expected the courts to revisit Georgia’s law. That effectively happened in July when a federal appeals court in Atlanta reversed the previous lower court ruling, enacting the so-called “heartbeat” abortion ban in the state. The court ruled in favor of changing the definition of a “natural person” in Georgia to “any human being including an unborn child.” It further clarifies that “unborn child” means “a member of the species of Homo sapiens at any stage of development who is carried in the womb.”

Consequently, Georgia residents can now claim $3,000 exemptions on their state tax returns this year for each of their unborn fetuses, thanks to the state’s “fetal personhood” provision.

“The Department will recognize any unborn child with a detectable human heartbeat, as defined in O.C.G.A. § 1-2-1, as eligible for the Georgia individual income tax dependent exemption,” Georgia’s Department of Revenue said Monday.

Guidance related to House Bill 481, Living Infants and Fairness Equality (LIFE) Act

On individual income tax returns filed for Tax Year 2022 where, at any time on or after July 20, 2022, and through December 31, 2022, a taxpayer has an unborn child (or children) with a detectable human heartbeat (which may occur as early as six weeks’ gestation), the taxpayer may claim a dependent personal exemption as provided for under O.C.G.A § 48-7-26(a) and (b)(3) in the amount of $3,000.00 for each unborn child. For Tax Year 2022, the deduction for dependent unborn children will be a subtraction on Line 12, “Other Adjustments,” of Form 500 Schedule 1.

Read the entire news at DOR website

How to claim this personal exemption?

Additional information, including return instructions to claim the personal exemption for an unborn child with a detectable heartbeat, will be issued later this year along with other tax changes impacting Tax Year 2022 Georgia individual income tax returns.

Taxpayers who claim the new deduction may be asked to provide medical records or documentation of the pregnancy,” said Daniel Ahart, chief tax officer at the tax preparation company Daniel Ahart Tax Service®.

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