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Online Resources

 * 1789-1799 Georgia Tax Index, 1789-1799 at Ancestry (Free /$)
 * 1793-1893 Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1793-1893 at Ancestry (Free /$) Index and images
 * 1862-1874 - FamilySearch Images only.

Why Use Tax Records
Tax record content varies and may include the name and residence of the taxpayer, description of the real estate, name of original purchaser, description of personal property, number of males over 21, number of school children, slaves, and farm animals. Tax records usually are arranged by date and locality and are not normally indexed. Tax records can be used in place of missing land and census records to locate a person’s residence.

State Level
Taxes in Georgia were levied on free white males over 21 and all slaves up to age 60. These persons are referred to as "polls." Tax listings, or digests, of a county generally list the taxable landowners and other polls and the amount of tax. The records in each county are divided by militia district.



Tax Laws
Abraham Lincoln instituted the income tax in 1862, and on July 1, 1862, Congress passed the Internal Revenue Act, creating the Bureau of Internal Revenue (later renamed to the Internal Revenue Service). This act was intended to “provide Internal Revenue to support the Government and to pay interest on the Public Debt.” Instituted in the height of the Civil War, the “Public Debt” at the time primarily consisted of war expenses. For the Southern States that were part of the Confederate side of the Civil War, once Union troops took over parts of the Southern States, income tax were instituted on them.


 * To learn more about this Collection click here


 * To learn more about the Civil War taxes click here

Availability

 * Tax digests for ten counties are found in Ruth Blair, Tax Digests of Georgia of Various Counties 1790-1818, (1926; reprint, Vidalia, Georgia: Genealogical Reprints, 1971)


 * Additional tax lists are in An Index to Georgia Tax Digests, Five Volumes. (Spartanburg, South Carolina: The Reprint Company, 1986) This index includes the records for 1789 to 1817 and is fully indexed.


 * Tax digests for the years 1787 to 1899 for many counties are on microfilm at the Family History Library. Many originals are at the Georgia Department of Archives and History. A list of the tax digests, 1787 to 1899, is on.


 * To locate tax lists or digests for Georgia Counties, available through the Family History Library, use the Place-names Search in the FamilySearch Catalog for: