Georgia income tax credit/deduction for repaid signing bonus

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Hello, keeping numbers rough for simplicity. Received a $35k signing bonus in 2022. Paid back the pre-tax amount when I left in 2023 before 1 year was up. Got my FICA tax back from employer, and federally I am using the claim of right repayment credit. However, Georgia does not have this credit. Even getting $0 back, taking it as a deduction (which passes to Georgia as a deduction as well) I would be worse off than just the federal credit because I do not normally itemize.

I looked into subtractions from income in Georgia, and this does not appear to fit into that list. Am I missing something? Am I supposed to file an amended 2022 return (I do have a W-2C)? When I looked that up, it looked like they wanted an amended federal return for that to work, so I'm not sure that's the right answer.

Am I going to be forced to donate ~$2k to Georgia for income I never even ultimately earned? Please advise if you can provide anything Georgia-specific, thank you.

Edit: I see these instructions for getting money back: https://eformrs.com/Forms10/States10/GA/GAIT550.PDF But for withholding tax, I need to be an employer, and for individual income tax, they want me to file an amended return -- which also asks for an amended federal return. Perhaps I can call the number listed on that page to see if I can get anywhere.

[DawnC · Accepted solution]

If you got a 2022 corrected w-2, you should file the amended return.  Do I need to amend?  

Amend if you already mailed your return (or the government accepted your e-file) and:

• You need to report a tax form you forgot about or received after filing (most commonly a W-2 or 1099).
• You received a corrected tax form after filing (the corrected box is checked) and the new info changes your refund or tax due amount.   This can eliminate the need for the credit or deduction.  

Claim of Right Info

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Does that mean I would file an amended federal return as well instead of taking the right of claim repayment credit, or is it possible to amend a state return only? And would all of this need to be done before 4/15 this year?

[DawnC]

No, you have 3 years from the date you filed the original return to file the amendment.   And yes, use the corrected w-2 to file an amended federal and GA return, and you won't need to take a credit (see link below, it is a process to take the credit in TurboTax).   The amended return will remove the excess income from federal and state.   You basically have to go through the same steps to determine the amount of the credit as you do to file the amendment with the corrected w-2.   How to Amend

Claim of Right in TurboTax