Georgia Sales Tax Rate in 2026: State and Local Rates, Atlanta, Food and Filing

If you sell goods in Georgia, or ship to customers there, this guide gives you the 2026 rates and the rules that decide which one to charge. It covers the 4% state rate, the alphabet of local taxes counties add, Atlanta's 8.9% total and other county rates, how groceries are taxed, which services are taxable, and how to register, file and pay through the Georgia Tax Center. Every rate below comes from the Department of Revenue's (DOR) official chart effective October 1, 2026.

Quick answer

Georgia's state sales tax rate is 4%. Counties add local taxes, so combined rates run from 6% to 9%. Inside the City of Atlanta the total is 8.9%. Sales are taxed at the rate where the customer takes delivery.

• Groceries skip the 4% state tax but pay local tax: 4.9% in Atlanta

• Cobb and Gwinnett are lowest at 6%; Augusta (Richmond) and Columbus (Muscogee) are 9%

• Register online in the Georgia Tax Center; returns are due by the 20th of the month after the period

• Remote sellers collect once they pass more than $100,000 or 200 or more separate retail sales into Georgia

• Delivery charges are part of the taxable price

How Georgia's sales tax rate is built

Georgia's sales tax starts with a flat 4% state rate that applies everywhere. On top of that, counties, and in the Atlanta area some cities, add local sales taxes approved by voters or the county commission. Almost every local tax is levied in 1% steps, which is why most Georgia rates are whole numbers: 6%, 7%, 8% or 9%. Atlanta and the cities on Fulton County's south side are the main exceptions, because they carry some fractional city taxes.

The DOR publishes a new rate chart every quarter, effective January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1. Each county has a three-digit code, and some areas inside a county have their own codes, such as 060A for the Fulton County part of Atlanta and 044A for the DeKalb County part. You report sales by these codes on your return, so the code matters as much as the rate.

The chart also shows which local taxes make up each rate, using letter codes. Knowing what they mean helps when a customer asks why their bill went up, or when you're checking a rate change notice.

SPLOST and TSPLOST taxes end when their approved period or revenue target is reached, and voters often renew them. That's one reason county rates shift a little from quarter to quarter. On October 1, 2026, the DOR's change notice listed new rates in ten counties, including Richmond, Houston, Dougherty, Monroe and Towns. Several of the changed counties now carry the P code, so if you deliver across south and central Georgia, reload your rates every quarter.

Atlanta and metro county rates in 2026

The City of Atlanta has the highest rate in the metro area at 8.9%. The rate is the same in the Fulton County part of the city and the DeKalb County part, though the local taxes behind it differ slightly. In the Fulton part, the 4.9% local share is made up of the MARTA tax, the county LOST, the education SPLOST, the City's MOST, an additional Atlanta MARTA tax and the Atlanta TSPLOST. The DeKalb part has HOST instead of LOST.

The 1% MOST in Atlanta doesn't apply to motor vehicles, so vehicle sales inside the city that are subject to sales tax use a rate 1% lower. Vehicles subject to Georgia's title ad valorem tax (TAVT) generally aren't subject to sales tax at all, so this matters mainly to dealers.

Step outside the city and rates fall. Fulton County outside Atlanta, Hapeville, College Park and East Point, which covers cities such as Sandy Springs, Alpharetta, Roswell and Johns Creek, is 7.75%. Hapeville, College Park and East Point are 8.75%. Cobb and Gwinnett, two of the state's biggest counties, are at the state minimum of 6% because they don't levy LOST.

Outside metro Atlanta, the county rate generally applies to the whole county, cities included, because Georgia's main local taxes are levied county-wide and shared with cities. Atlanta and the Fulton south-side cities are the exceptions you need to watch.

Which rate to charge: delivery-based sourcing

Georgia sources sales to where the customer takes delivery. The DOR's guidance, based on O.C.G.A. § 48-8-77, is that tax is generally due at the rate of the county where the buyer receives the property, plus the Atlanta city taxes if delivery is inside Atlanta. You must collect the delivery county's rate even if you have no store or office there.

In practice:

• Over-the-counter sales. The customer takes delivery at your store, so you charge your store's rate. A shop in Marietta charges Cobb's 6% on every walk-in sale.
• Deliveries. If you deliver or ship to a Georgia address, you charge the rate at that address. The same Marietta shop delivering a sofa to a home in Savannah charges Chatham's 7%.
• Shipments out of state. Goods shipped to a customer outside Georgia aren't subject to Georgia sales tax. Keep the shipping records.

Picking the right Georgia rate

Step 1

Where does the customer take delivery?

Step 2

At your store → your county's rate

Step 3

Delivered in Georgia → delivery county's rate (plus Atlanta taxes if inside the city)

Step 4

Shipped out of state → no Georgia tax

Step 5

Report under that jurisdiction code

On your GTC return

Delivery charges count. Georgia's definition of the sales price includes charges needed to complete the sale, including delivery. The DOR's own example is a $20 shirt with a $5 delivery fee, taxed on $25. Installation charges, by contrast, aren't part of the sales price if you list them separately on the invoice.

The same rules govern use tax. If you buy taxable goods without paying Georgia tax, for example from an out-of-state seller that didn't collect it, you owe use tax at the state rate plus the local rate where you receive the goods. Use tax also applies when you pull items from tax-free resale inventory for your own use.

What's taxable, and how food is treated

Georgia taxes the retail sale of tangible personal property and a short list of services. The DOR says most services are exempt, but these are taxable: hotel and lodging accommodations, in-state transportation of passengers such as taxis and limousines, admissions, and charges to take part in games and amusements. A service business that also sells goods, such as a salon selling hair products, collects tax on the goods, and pays tax on the supplies it uses to provide its services.

Groceries: exempt from state tax only

The most misunderstood rule in Georgia is the grocery exemption. Food and food ingredients sold for home consumption are exempt from the 4% state tax, but the DOR's exemption list is clear that they remain subject to all local sales taxes, except the SPLOST that goes with an EHOST. So a grocery bill in Atlanta is taxed at 4.9%, the full local share, and in DeKalb County outside Atlanta at 3%.

The exemption doesn't cover prepared food, alcoholic drinks, tobacco, dietary supplements, or medicines and other items taken for medical or hygiene reasons, such as cough drops. Those are taxed at the full state and local rate. Candy and soft drinks aren't on the excluded list, so in Georgia they generally get the same state exemption as other groceries when sold for home consumption. The exemption also doesn't apply to food a business buys for use in its operations.

Grocers must keep documentation, such as register Z-tapes, showing how much of their sales were eligible food. That's the evidence an auditor will ask for.

Exempt sales and resale certificates

The DOR presumes every sale is taxable until the seller proves otherwise. If a customer buys for resale or claims an exemption, take a fully completed certificate, usually Form ST-5, in good faith and keep it. A resale certificate should show the buyer's Georgia sales tax number, which you can check with the DOR's Sales Tax ID Verification Tool. Most certificates don't expire, though the agricultural GATE certificate is renewed every year.

Worked examples in dollars

An electronics shop in Atlanta. A customer buys a $500 television at the counter. Tax at 8.9% is $44.50, for a total of $544.50.

A grocery run in Atlanta. A customer spends $200 on groceries and adds a $10 hot sandwich from the deli. The groceries are taxed at the 4.9% local rate, or $9.80. The sandwich is prepared food at 8.9%, or $0.89. The total tax is $10.69.

A Marietta furniture store delivering to Savannah. The store sells a $2,000 sofa and charges $100 for delivery to a home in Chatham County. Both amounts are part of the sales price, so the tax is $2,100 × 7% = $147, reported under Chatham's county code, not Cobb's.

A Florida online seller. A Jacksonville seller's sales delivered into Georgia reach $105,000 by September 2026, passing the more than $100,000 line. It must register in the Georgia Tax Center and collect state and local tax at each customer's delivery address. It owes tax on its own website sales; sales through a large marketplace are collected by the marketplace.

Try it — sales tax on a $500 purchase in Atlanta

Purchase AmountState

Alabama (4%)Alaska (0%)Arizona (5.6%)Arkansas (6.5%)California (7.25%)Colorado (2.9%)Connecticut (6.35%)Delaware (0%)Florida (6%)Georgia (4%)Hawaii (4%)Idaho (6%)Illinois (6.25%)Indiana (7%)Iowa (6%)Kansas (6.5%)Kentucky (6%)Louisiana (5%)Maine (5.5%)Maryland (6%)Massachusetts (6.25%)Michigan (6%)Minnesota (6.875%)Mississippi (7%)Missouri (4.225%)Montana (0%)Nebraska (5.5%)Nevada (6.85%)New Hampshire (0%)New Jersey (6.625%)New Mexico (4.875%)New York (4%)North Carolina (4.75%)North Dakota (5%)Ohio (5.75%)Oklahoma (4.5%)Oregon (0%)Pennsylvania (6%)Rhode Island (7%)South Carolina (6%)South Dakota (4.2%)Tennessee (7%)Texas (6.25%)Utah (6.1%)Vermont (6%)Virginia (5.3%)Washington (6.5%)West Virginia (6%)Wisconsin (5%)Wyoming (4%)

Local / County Rate

Purchase Amount$500.00

State Tax (4%)$20.00

Local Tax (4.9%)$24.50

Combined Rate8.9%

Total Amount (Including Tax)$544.50

Open the full Sales Tax Calculator (PDF, save, compare)

Remote sellers and marketplaces

Out-of-state sellers with no physical presence in Georgia must register and collect if, in the previous or current calendar year, they had more than $100,000 in gross revenue from retail sales of goods delivered into Georgia, or 200 or more separate retail sales. These thresholds took effect on January 1, 2020, under House Bill 182, according to the DOR's Policy Bulletin SUT-2019-02. Remote sellers collect both state and local tax, using the local rate at the delivery address.

Marketplace facilitators collect Georgia tax on retail sales they facilitate once their total taxable sales sourced to Georgia, combining all their sellers and their own sales, reach $100,000 in the previous or current calendar year. They report facilitated sales under a separate marketplace facilitator account in the Georgia Tax Center.

A few out-of-state situations have special rules. Vendors with contracts over $100,000 with Georgia state agencies must register regardless of presence. Sellers at a Georgia convention or trade show must collect tax on those sales, though registration isn't required if the show is their only presence, lasts no more than five days in a year and produced no more than $100,000 of net income in the prior year.

Registering in the Georgia Tax Center

Any person or business that meets the definition of a "dealer" must register for a sales and use tax number, even if all its sales will be online, out of state, wholesale or exempt. Registration is done online through the Georgia Tax Center (GTC), and the DOR says the account number usually arrives by email within 15 minutes.

Getting set up to collect Georgia sales tax

1. 1

   Form your business and get an EIN if needed

   Have your legal structure, federal EIN and NAICS code ready. Corporate officers must provide their Social Security numbers.

   Georgia business license guide
2. 2

   Register in the Georgia Tax Center

   Create a GTC login at gtc.dor.ga.gov and add a sales and use tax account. Your account number arrives by email.

   Georgia Tax Center
3. 3

   Display your certificate

   Post your sales tax certificate of registration at the location it was issued for.

4. 4

   Load rates by jurisdiction code

   Set up the current quarter's county and Atlanta codes in your till or online store, and update them every quarter.

   Tip: Sign up for the DOR's rate change email alerts.

5. 5

   Collect certificates for exempt sales

   Take Form ST-5 from resale customers and check their numbers with the Sales Tax ID Verification Tool.

Corporate officers are asked for Social Security numbers for a reason. Sales tax is a trust fund tax, and under Georgia law any officer who controls collecting and paying it and willfully fails to do so can be held personally liable for the unpaid tax.

Filing, paying and penalties

Sales tax returns and payment are due by the 20th of the month after the period covered by the return. Most dealers file monthly; you can ask the DOR in writing to change your filing frequency to quarterly or annual if your volume is low. When the 20th falls on a weekend or state holiday, the due date moves to the next business day, which is why the DOR's 2026 calendar shows, for example, the May return due June 22 and the August return due September 21.

You file in the Georgia Tax Center. If you owe more than more than $500 on any return, you must file and pay electronically from then on, even if later returns drop below that amount. Paper filing on Form ST-3 is only for dealers below that line who haven't chosen electronic payment. A return is required for every period, including periods with no sales.

Large dealers prepay. If your state sales tax liability in the previous calendar year was more than $60,000, not counting local taxes, you must remit prepaid estimated tax equal to 50% of your estimated monthly tax, based on your average monthly state payments for the prior year. A dealer that paid $90,000 in state tax last year averages $7,500 a month, so its prepayment is $3,750 a month.

Timely filers are rewarded. Under DOR Rule 560-12-1-.22, a dealer that files and pays on time keeps a percentage of the tax collected as vendor's compensation, at the rate set in O.C.G.A. § 48-8-50; the Georgia Tax Center calculates it on the return. File or pay late and you lose the compensation and owe penalty and interest. If you've fallen behind for several years and the DOR hasn't contacted you, its Voluntary Disclosure Agreement program can waive penalties and limit how far back you have to file.

Keep sales records, purchase records and exemption certificates for at least three years.

A monthly filer's last quarter of 2026

October 1

New county rates take effect in ten counties; reload rate tables

October 20

September return due (and Q3 return for quarterly filers)

November 20

October return due

December 21

November return due (the 20th is a Sunday)

January 20, 2027

December, Q4 and annual returns due

Common mistakes and how to fix them

Charging the state rate on groceries. Exempting food from all tax undercharges the local share; charging the full rate overcharges the state share. Set grocery items to the local-only rate for each location.

Using the store's rate for deliveries. A delivery to another county takes that county's rate and code. If you've been charging your home rate on deliveries, correct the setup and amend the affected returns.

Leaving out delivery fees. Delivery charges are part of the taxable price in Georgia. Make sure your invoice software doesn't treat them as non-taxable.

Missing Atlanta's city taxes. An address in Fulton or DeKalb County isn't automatically outside Atlanta. Check whether the delivery point is inside the city limits before choosing between 8.9% and the county rate.

Skipping zero returns. Even with no sales, a missed return is a late return. File a zero return for every period.

Official links

• DOR — Sales Tax Rates (General)Quarterly rate charts
• DOR — Upcoming quarterly rate changesChange notices by quarter
• Georgia Tax CenterRegister, file and pay
• DOR — Sales & Use Tax due dates2026 and 2027 calendars
• DOR — List of exemptionsIncluding the food exemption
• DOR — Marketplace facilitatorsThresholds and reporting

What to do next

If you're still setting up, our Georgia business license guide covers the city and county occupation tax certificates you'll need alongside your sales tax number. Then register in the Georgia Tax Center, load the current quarter's rates by jurisdiction code, and set reminders for the 20th of each month. Use the sales tax calculator to check invoices and our how to calculate sales tax guide for tax-inclusive prices. Selling into Florida too? Compare the rules in our Florida sales tax guide.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice — confirm on the official source or with a professional.

Frequently asked questions

What is the sales tax rate in Georgia in 2026?

The state rate is 4%. Counties and some cities add local taxes, such as LOST, SPLOST, ESPLOST, TSPLOST and MARTA, so the combined rate in the Department of Revenue's October 2026 chart runs from 6% in Cobb and Gwinnett counties to 9% in many others. Most counties sit at 7% or 8%. Atlanta is 8.9%.

What is the sales tax rate in Atlanta?

Inside the City of Atlanta the combined rate is 8.9%, in both the Fulton and DeKalb County parts of the city. That's the 4% state rate plus 4.9% in local taxes, including MARTA, the education SPLOST, Atlanta's MOST water and sewer tax, an extra Atlanta MARTA tax and the Atlanta TSPLOST. Fulton County outside Atlanta and its south-side cities is 7.75%.

Is food taxed in Georgia?

Groceries are exempt from the 4% state tax but not from local taxes. Food sold for home consumption is taxed at the local rate only, which is 4.9% in Atlanta and usually 2% to 5% elsewhere. Prepared food, alcohol, tobacco, dietary supplements and medicines don't qualify and are taxed at the full rate.

How do I register for sales tax in Georgia?

Register online through the Georgia Tax Center (GTC) at gtc.dor.ga.gov. The Department of Revenue says your sales and use tax account number usually arrives by email within 15 minutes of submitting. Any business that meets the definition of a dealer must register, even if its sales are online, wholesale or exempt.

When are Georgia sales tax returns due?

Returns and payment are due by the 20th of the month after the period, whether you file monthly, quarterly or annually. Most dealers file monthly. You must file a return even when you made no sales, and returns with more than more than $500 of tax must be filed and paid electronically.

Do out-of-state sellers have to collect Georgia sales tax?

Yes, if in the current or previous calendar year they had more than $100,000 in retail sales delivered into Georgia or 200 or more separate retail sales. Marketplace facilitators collect on sales they facilitate once total marketplace sales sourced to Georgia reach $100,000. Remote sellers charge state tax plus the local rate where the goods are delivered.

Sources & verification

Figures on this page were checked against the sources below when it was last reviewed on 9 October 2026. Each rate and limit is stored once with its own official source and review date, and official update channels are monitored daily so changes are picked up. How we verify

1. 1.Georgia Sales and Use Tax Rate Chart, effective October 1, 2026 — Georgia Department of Revenue · accessed 9 October 2026
2. 2.Sales Exempt from Certain Local Taxes, effective October 1, 2026 — Georgia Department of Revenue · accessed 9 October 2026
3. 3.Sales Tax — Upcoming Quarterly Rate Changes (rate changes effective October 1, 2026) — Georgia Department of Revenue · accessed 9 October 2026
4. 4.Tax Rates — Sales and Use Tax FAQ — Georgia Department of Revenue · accessed 9 October 2026
5. 5.What is Subject to Sales and Use Tax? — Georgia Department of Revenue · accessed 9 October 2026
6. 6.List of Sales and Use Tax Exemptions — Georgia Department of Revenue · accessed 9 October 2026
7. 7.File & Pay — Sales and Use Tax FAQ — Georgia Department of Revenue · accessed 9 October 2026
8. 8.Sales & Use Tax Due Dates — Georgia Department of Revenue · accessed 9 October 2026
9. 9.Sales and Use Tax Registration — FAQ — Georgia Department of Revenue · accessed 9 October 2026
10. 10.Policy Bulletin SUT-2019-02 — Remote Sellers — Georgia Department of Revenue · accessed 9 October 2026
11. 11.Marketplace Facilitators — Georgia Department of Revenue · accessed 9 October 2026
12. 12.Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 560-12-1-.22 — Filing and remittance requirements — Georgia Secretary of State (Rules and Regulations) · accessed 9 October 2026