The sales tax rate in College Park, GA is either 8.75% or 9%, depending on which side of the county line the sale happens. College Park straddles Fulton and Clayton counties, and each side carries a different mix of local levies on top of Georgia’s 4% state tax. The Fulton County portion is 8.75%. The Clayton County portion is 9%.1Georgia Department of Revenue. Georgia Sales and Use Tax Rate Chart
The Georgia Department of Revenue republishes its rate chart every quarter, so verify the current figure before a large purchase or a tax filing.
Which Side of College Park Are You On?
The Department of Revenue assigns each side its own jurisdiction code. Code 801 is Fulton County (College Park) at 8.75%. Code 804 is Clayton County (College Park) at 9%.1Georgia Department of Revenue. Georgia Sales and Use Tax Rate Chart Receipts typically print the jurisdiction code or county name, so a quick look at a recent receipt is the easiest way to confirm which rate you were charged.
The 0.25-point gap is small on any one transaction. On a $2,000 appliance, it works out to $5. For a business ringing up thousands of sales, applying the wrong county’s rate is a common audit flag, so each location needs to be registered under the correct code.
What’s Inside the Rate
Both sides start with Georgia’s 4% state sales tax.2Georgia Code. Georgia Code Title 48 Revenue and Taxation 48-8-30 Everything above that is voter-approved local tax.
Fulton County Side: 8.75%
The 4.75% local portion is made up of:1Georgia Department of Revenue. Georgia Sales and Use Tax Rate Chart
- 1% MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority)
- 1% LOST (Local Option Sales Tax) for county and city operations
- 1% ESPLOST (Educational Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) for Fulton County schools
- 1% Other voter-approved purposes
- 0.75% Fulton TSPLOST for road and transit projects outside the City of Atlanta
Clayton County Side: 9%
The 5% local portion is made up of:1Georgia Department of Revenue. Georgia Sales and Use Tax Rate Chart
- 1% MARTA
- 1% LOST
- 1% ESPLOST for Clayton County schools
- 1% SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) for county capital projects
- 1% Other voter-approved purposes
The structural difference is that Clayton carries a 1% SPLOST that Fulton’s side of College Park doesn’t, and Fulton carries a 0.75% TSPLOST that Clayton doesn’t. These local levies expire and have to be renewed by voters, so the combined rate can shift when one sunsets or a new one passes. Current charts are posted on the DOR’s sales tax rates page.3Georgia Department of Revenue. Sales Tax Rates – General
Groceries and Prescriptions
Food and food ingredients bought for home consumption are exempt from the 4% state tax, but local taxes still apply.4Cornell Law Institute. Georgia Comp R and Regs R 560-12-2-.104 – Food Exemption That puts the effective grocery rate at roughly 4.75% on the Fulton side and roughly 5% on the Clayton side. The DOR publishes a separate food-rate chart each quarter that accounts for any local levies that also exempt food, so the real grocery rate can be slightly lower than the general local figure.5Georgia Department of Revenue. Sales Tax Rates – Food, TSPLOST Exempt, and Motor Vehicles
The exemption covers staples like produce, meat, dairy, and bread. It does not cover prepared food, alcohol, dietary supplements, or tobacco. Once a store heats, combines, or serves food with utensils, the full rate applies.
Prescription medications are fully exempt from both state and local sales tax in Georgia.6Cornell Law Institute. Georgia Comp R and Regs R 560-12-2-.30 – Drugs, Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetic Devices, and Other Medical Items The exemption extends to prescription contact lenses and eyeglasses, and to insulin whether or not it is dispensed by prescription.7Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts. Tax Incentive Evaluation – Georgia Sales Tax Exemption for Prescription Drugs, Contact Lenses, and Glasses
Buying a Car in College Park
Cars, trucks, and other motor vehicles titled in Georgia aren’t taxed through the regular sales tax at all. Instead, buyers pay the Title Ad Valorem Tax, a one-time charge of 7% of the vehicle’s fair market value collected when the title is registered.8Georgia Department of Revenue. Vehicle Taxes – Title Ad Valorem Tax (TAVT) and Annual Ad Valorem Tax TAVT replaced both the old sales tax on vehicles and the annual motor vehicle ad valorem tax beginning in March 2013.9Georgia Department of Revenue. Title Ad Valorem Tax (TAVT) – FAQ
One College Park wrinkle: in Clayton County, the 1% MARTA tax doesn’t apply to motor vehicle sales, because Clayton first levied MARTA after March 2013. That effectively drops the general sales tax rate by 1 point for vehicles on the Clayton side.10Georgia Department of Revenue. Tax Rates For most new-car buyers this is academic, since TAVT applies instead of sales tax anyway. It can matter for certain used-vehicle transfers between family members or other situations where a partial TAVT exemption applies.
Online Orders and Out-of-State Purchases
Georgia’s 4% state tax, plus the applicable local tax, is also owed when you buy something from an out-of-state seller who doesn’t collect Georgia tax at checkout.2Georgia Code. Georgia Code Title 48 Revenue and Taxation 48-8-30 This is called use tax, and it covers online purchases, catalog orders, and anything brought back from another state. The local rate owed is based on where you use or store the item, so a College Park resident on the Fulton side owes 8.75% and one on the Clayton side owes 9%.
After the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Georgia requires out-of-state sellers to collect Georgia sales tax once they exceed $100,000 in sales or 200 separate transactions delivered into the state in the current or prior calendar year. Large marketplaces like Amazon generally handle this automatically for third-party sellers. For smaller vendors that don’t, individual consumers can report the use tax on their Georgia income tax return or pay it directly to the Department of Revenue.