Sales Tax: A Statewide Overview of Georgia Counties

Sales tax is the second largest source of revenue for county government in Georgia. According to county survey results collected by the Department of Community Affairs in the 2014 Report of Local Government Finances, sales tax made up 18% of overall county revenues.

There are a number of sales tax options for counties to utilize. As such, counties have opted to use various combinations. There are also a number of counties that use sales tax for education through an ESPLOST or ELOST. While there is generally a 2% cap restriction on most county sales tax, there are some exceptions.

Of the various types of sales tax available to counties, the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) and the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) are the most popular with 92.45% of counties currently levying a LOST and 95.6% of counties currently levying a SPLOST. Sales tax for education are also popular with 97.48% of counties currently levying an Education Special Purpose Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST) and eight counties provide their LOST proceeds to the school system in their county. Forty-six counties levy the Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (TSPLOST), representing 28.93% of counties statewide. At present, only two counties have a Homestead Option Sales Tax and three counties levy the MARTA tax.

In terms of popular combination of taxes, 137 counties currently levy a LOST, SPLOST, and ESPLOST; 11 counties levy a SPLOST and ESPLOST; 6 counties levy a LOST and ESPLOST and 4 counties levy a LOST and SPLOST. The map found here provides an overview of all sales tax levied by county as of July 1, 2016.

Additional information on the sales tax rate by county and the enactment and termination dates for sales tax by county can be found in the Distributions Section of the Georgia Department of Revenue Local Government Services Division Website.