The Fulton County sales tax runs 7.75% in most of the county and 8.9% inside the City of Atlanta. Both rates start with Georgia’s 4% state tax and add local levies on top; the gap between them comes from taxes Atlanta charges that the rest of the county does not. Because the delivery address controls which rate applies, a purchase a few blocks apart can be taxed differently.1Georgia Department of Revenue. General Rate Chart – Effective January 1, 2026 Through March 31, 20262Georgia Department of Revenue. Sales Tax Rates – General
The Georgia Department of Revenue republishes rate charts each quarter, and local pieces can shift when voters approve or renew a levy. If you ship to customers across the county, you need to look at the destination, not where your store sits.
What Makes Up the Rate
Outside Atlanta, the 3.75% in local tax is a stack: a 1% MARTA tax for transit, a 1% Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) for general county revenue, a 1% Education SPLOST for school capital projects, and a 0.75% Transportation SPLOST for roads, bridges, sidewalks, and bike paths.3Georgia Secretary of State. Georgia Administrative Code 560-12-4 – Rapid Transit Tax4Fulton County. TSPLOST ESPLOST is renewed by voters every five years and, by law, pays only for buildings, technology, and other capital items, not teacher salaries or day-to-day operations.
Inside Atlanta, you also pay a 1% Municipal Option Sales Tax (MOST), which funds the city’s Clean Water Atlanta infrastructure program and helps keep water and sewer rates down.5Georgia Department of Revenue. 1% City of Atlanta Municipal Option Sales Tax6City of Atlanta. Municipal Option Sales Tax (MOST) A separate Atlanta TSPLOST applies in the city at a different rate than the county’s. MOST does not apply to motor vehicle purchases, even when the vehicle would otherwise be subject to sales tax.
Georgia law caps how many local sales and use taxes a jurisdiction can stack, with carve-outs for education, transportation, and transit.7Justia. Georgia Code 48-8-6 – Prohibition of Political Subdivisions From Imposing Various Taxes
What’s Taxed and What Isn’t
Georgia taxes retail sales of tangible personal property plus a short list of services: hotel rooms, taxi and limo rides, admissions, and amusements.8Georgia Department of Revenue. What is Subject to Sales and Use Tax Most other services are not taxed. A few everyday categories work differently from what you might assume.
Groceries
Food and food ingredients for off-premises consumption are exempt from the 4% state tax but still subject to the full local sales tax in Fulton County.9Legal Information Institute. Georgia Comp. R. and Regs. R. 560-12-2-.115 – Restaurants So your grocery receipt still carries the MARTA, LOST, ESPLOST, and TSPLOST pieces. Restaurant meals eaten on-site are taxed at the full combined rate, state portion included.
Prescriptions and Over-the-Counter Drugs
Prescription medications for humans are exempt from both state and local sales tax, and the exemption also covers prescription glasses, contact lenses, and nonprescription insulin.10Legal Information Institute. Georgia Comp. R. and Regs. R. 560-12-2-.30 – Drugs, Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetic Devices, and Other Medical Items11Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts. Tax Incentive Evaluation – Georgia Sales Tax Exemption for Prescription Drugs, Contact Lenses, and Glasses Over-the-counter medications bought without a prescription are fully taxable.
Digital Goods and Software
Georgia does not tax most digital products. Prewritten software delivered electronically, Software as a Service subscriptions, and digital subscriptions where you don’t get permanent ownership are exempt.12Legal Information Institute. Georgia Comp. R. and Regs. R. 560-12-2-.118 – Digital Products, Goods Buy the same software on a physical disc or drive, though, and the tangible medium is taxable like any other retail purchase.
Cars and Trucks
Titled vehicles bypass the sales tax system entirely. Instead, Georgia charges a one-time Title Ad Valorem Tax (TAVT) when the vehicle is titled in the state. TAVT replaced both the old sales tax on vehicle purchases and the annual motor vehicle ad valorem tax owners used to pay each year.13Georgia Department of Revenue. Vehicle Taxes – Title Ad Valorem Tax (TAVT) and Annual Ad Valorem Tax The current rate is 7.0% of fair market value, charged every time ownership transfers or a new Georgia resident titles a vehicle for the first time.14Georgia Department of Revenue. Title Ad Valorem Tax (TAVT) – FAQ
Selling Into Fulton County From Out of State
Out-of-state sellers can’t ignore Georgia tax just because they lack a storefront here. You have to register and collect if, in the current or prior calendar year, you exceeded either $100,000 in gross Georgia sales or 200 or more separate retail transactions delivered into the state.15Justia. Georgia Code 48-8-2 – Definitions A physical presence in Georgia, like an office, warehouse, or stored inventory, also triggers the obligation on its own.
Marketplace facilitators such as Amazon and eBay collect and remit the tax on behalf of their third-party sellers. If all your Georgia sales go through a marketplace, the platform handles it, and those sales don’t count toward your own economic nexus thresholds. Direct sales through your own website do count.
Registering as a Seller
Before your first taxable sale in Fulton County, you need a Georgia sales tax certificate from the Department of Revenue. Register through the Georgia Tax Center online portal using Form CRF-002, the Business Tax Registration form. You’ll need your Federal Employer Identification Number (or Social Security Number for a sole proprietorship), the legal business name, a physical business address, and a mailing address.16Georgia Department of Revenue. CRF-002
Get the address right the first time. The Department of Revenue uses it to assign the correct local rates and route your collections to the right jurisdictions. A wrong address can mean you collect at the wrong rate for months before anyone notices.
Filing and Paying
You file returns and pay through the Georgia Tax Center. Returns are due by the 20th of the month after each reporting period.17Georgia Department of Revenue. File and Pay Most sellers file monthly; the Department may assign a quarterly or annual schedule to lower-volume dealers. Payments go through electronically by ACH debit, and the system generates a confirmation number worth saving. Georgia also pays a small vendor compensation to dealers who file and pay on time.
If You File or Pay Late
Miss the deadline and the late-filing penalty is 5% of the tax owed, or $5 if greater, for the first month, with another 5% for each additional month the return stays unfiled, capped at 25%.18Georgia Department of Revenue. Penalty and Interest Rates A separate late-payment penalty follows the same 5%-per-month structure, also capped at 25%. The two stack, so a return that is both filed late and paid late can draw up to 50% in penalties on top of the tax.
Interest accrues on top of that. Georgia’s annual rate is the federal bank prime loan rate plus 3%, reset each January.19Justia. Georgia Code 48-2-40 – Rate of Interest on Past Due Taxes Interest starts the day after the original due date, compounds monthly, and any partial month counts as a full month. Even a few days of lateness starts the clock.
Getting a Refund if You Overpaid
If you paid tax on something that should have been exempt, or you overpaid, you can claim a refund using Form ST-12. You have three years from the date the tax was paid to file.20Georgia Department of Revenue. Claim for Refund (Form ST-12) Attach invoices, proof of payment, and sales journals; incomplete claims are the main reason refunds stall.
If you paid the tax to a vendor rather than directly to the Department of Revenue, you’ll also need either a Waiver of Vendor’s Rights (Form ST-12A) or an Affidavit for Purchaser’s Claim for Tax Refund (Form ST-12B) so the state knows only one party is asking for the money back. Businesses required to file electronically under Department of Revenue Rule 560-3-2-.26 must file their refund claims electronically as well, not on the paper ST-12.