The sales tax in Barrow County, Georgia is 7 percent on most purchases. That’s 4 percent collected by the state of Georgia and three separate 1 percent local taxes stacked on top.1Georgia Department of Revenue. What is Subject to Sales and Use Tax? A few important categories, like groceries, prescriptions, and motor vehicles, are taxed at a lower rate or under a different system entirely.
What Makes Up the 7 Percent
Georgia’s 4 percent state tax applies to the retail price of tangible personal property and certain services.1Georgia Department of Revenue. What is Subject to Sales and Use Tax? The remaining 3 percent comes from three voter-approved local taxes:
- A 1 percent Local Option Sales Tax (LOST), shared between the county and its municipalities and required by Georgia law to be used toward rolling back property taxes.2Georgia Secretary of State. Georgia Administrative Code 560-12-5 – Local Option Tax
- A 1 percent Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) dedicated to voter-approved capital projects. In Barrow County, current SPLOST uses include fire safety facilities, a jail and justice center, parks and recreation, public safety upgrades, roads and bridges, and water and sewer infrastructure.3Barrow County, GA. SPLOST
- A 1 percent Education SPLOST (ESPLOST) that funds school construction, renovation, buses, technology, and bond debt for the Barrow County School System.4Justia. Georgia Code Title 48, Chapter 8 – Sales and Use Taxes
Each local penny requires voter approval and expires on a set schedule unless renewed. SPLOST and ESPLOST money cannot be redirected to day-to-day operating costs like salaries or utilities.
What You Pay 7 Percent On
Most physical goods carry the full combined rate. Clothing, electronics, furniture, appliances, and building materials bought in a store or online are all taxed at 7 percent, and so are leases and rentals of tangible property.1Georgia Department of Revenue. What is Subject to Sales and Use Tax?
Services are mostly exempt in Georgia, but there are notable exceptions: hotel and short-term lodging, transportation of individuals within the state (including rideshares and taxis), admissions to events, and charges for games and amusement activities.1Georgia Department of Revenue. What is Subject to Sales and Use Tax? Mobile telecommunications services are taxable when the customer’s primary use location is in Georgia.5Justia. Georgia Code 48-8-13 – Taxing Jurisdiction for Mobile Telecommunications Services
Digital Products
As of January 1, 2024, Georgia taxes digital products sold to end users, including digital audio, video, e-books, artwork, photographs, digital newspapers and magazines, video games, and electronic entertainment. The tax applies when the buyer gets permanent use rights and the purchase isn’t conditioned on ongoing subscription payments. A digital code that unlocks any of these products is treated the same way, but gift cards and stored-value cards are not. A one-time movie download is taxable; a monthly streaming subscription that ends when you stop paying may not be.
Groceries Are Taxed at 3 Percent
Georgia exempts unprepared food and food ingredients from the 4 percent state tax when an individual buys them for off-premises consumption.6Justia. Georgia Code 48-8-3 – Exemptions The three local taxes still apply, so groceries in Barrow County are taxed at 3 percent instead of 7.7Legal Information Institute. Ga. Comp. R. and Regs. R. 560-12-2-.115 – Restaurants
Prepared food gets the full 7 percent. Georgia defines prepared food as food sold heated or heated by the seller at any point before sale, food where the seller combined two or more ingredients into a single item, and food sold with utensils the seller provides and customarily intends you to use.8Legal Information Institute. Ga. Comp. R. and Regs. R. 560-12-2-.104 – Food Exemption Self-service utensils sitting out in a store don’t automatically make otherwise exempt food taxable.
The grocery exemption also doesn’t cover alcoholic beverages, tobacco, dietary supplements, over-the-counter medications, or food purchased for business use. Purchases made with food stamps or WIC coupons are fully exempt from both state and local sales tax.6Justia. Georgia Code 48-8-3 – Exemptions
Prescriptions and Medical Items
Prescription drugs are exempt from both state and local sales tax in Georgia. The exemption covers drugs that can only be lawfully dispensed by prescription for human treatment, as well as insulin whether or not a prescription is required.6Justia. Georgia Code 48-8-3 – Exemptions Prescription eyeglasses and contact lenses fall under the same exemption.9Legal Information Institute. Ga. Comp. R. and Regs. R. 560-12-2-.30 – Drugs, Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetic Devices, and Other Medical Items
Georgia also exempts insulin syringes and blood glucose test strips sold without a prescription, physician-prescribed oxygen, and durable medical equipment or prosthetic devices sold with a prescription.6Justia. Georgia Code 48-8-3 – Exemptions Over-the-counter medications are taxable at the full rate.
Vehicles Use a Different Tax
Don’t apply the 7 percent rate to a car purchase. Georgia replaced the sales tax on motor vehicles in 2013 with the Title Ad Valorem Tax (TAVT). Vehicles titled in Georgia pay TAVT instead and are exempt from both state sales tax and the annual vehicle property tax.10Georgia Department of Revenue. Title Ad Valorem Tax (TAVT) – FAQ TAVT is a one-time fee paid at titling, and the rate varies based on whether you’re a new Georgia resident, buying from a dealer, or buying from a private party. The current rate is published by the Georgia Department of Revenue.
Online and Out-of-State Purchases
Online shopping doesn’t let you avoid Barrow County’s sales tax. Remote sellers must collect and remit Georgia sales tax once they cross either threshold in the previous or current calendar year: more than $100,000 in gross Georgia sales, or 200 or more separate retail transactions in the state.11Justia. Georgia Code 48-8-2 – Definitions Either threshold alone triggers the obligation.12Georgia Department of Revenue. Out-of-State Sellers
When a seller doesn’t collect, the obligation shifts to you. Georgia imposes a use tax at the same combined state and local rate on taxable goods bought out of state and brought into or used in Georgia.1Georgia Department of Revenue. What is Subject to Sales and Use Tax? If you already paid sales tax to another state on the same purchase, Georgia credits that amount. If you bought an item and used it outside Georgia for more than six months before bringing it here, the tax is based on the lesser of what you paid or the item’s current fair market value.
If You Sell in Barrow County
Any business that meets Georgia’s definition of a “dealer” must register for a sales tax number and certificate of registration through the Georgia Tax Center.13Georgia Department of Revenue. Tax Registration That definition reaches anyone selling tangible personal property at retail, leasing or renting property, maintaining a warehouse or office in Georgia, or soliciting business through agents in the state, and registration is required even if all sales are wholesale, online, out of state, or otherwise exempt.11Justia. Georgia Code 48-8-2 – Definitions
Registered businesses collect the full 7 percent on taxable Barrow County sales and remit it to the Georgia Department of Revenue, which distributes the local portions back to the county and school system. Returns are due every assigned filing period, even when no sales occurred. Late filing or late payment triggers a penalty of 5 percent of the tax owed (or $5, whichever is greater), plus 5 percent for each additional month the return is overdue, up to 25 percent, with interest accruing on top at the federal prime rate plus 3 percent.14Georgia Department of Revenue. Penalty and Interest Rates