Georgia Sales Tax Compliance

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Written by Aaron Giles | Posted in Georgia Sales Tax Compliance

If you’re planning on filing a sales and use tax return in Georgia, you’ll need to know the following information:

– Total sales in Georgia

– Amount of sales exempt from tax

– Amount of sales tax collected

– Amount of taxable sales

Georgia sales tax compliance has a state-level sales tax rate of 4%. However, in Atlanta and Clayton County, the Motor Vehicle taxes 1% less than the normal rate. The sale of food (which includes groceries, food ingredients, unprepared food, etc.) is tax exempt at the state level. Although you don’t have to pay taxes on food at the state level, there are still taxes applied to the sale of food at Georgia’s local level.

Georgia Sales Tax

Georgia offers three frequencies for which you can file for returns: monthly, quarterly, and annual. The Georgia DOR will start taxpayers on a monthly filing frequency; however, taxpayers can submit a written request to the Georgia DOR to have their filing frequency changed. Don’t forget to file your taxes before the 20^th of each month because that is the deadline of each filing period. If the 20^th of the month falls on a weekend or a business holiday, then the deadline is extended to the next business day.

If the taxpayer pays $60,000 or more in state sales tax for the previous calendar year, the taxpayer must make monthly accelerated tax payments (prepaid tax). The state’s “prepaid tax” is 50% of the average monthly state sales tax the taxpayer paid the previous calendar year. This amount will be calculated by the Georgia DOR annually and automatically filled into returns filed on the GTC (Georgia Tax Center).

When it comes to taxes, the city of Atlanta is a tricky place. Everywhere in Georgia, outside of Atlanta, only charges state and county tax, so properly distributing Atlanta’s special taxes can be the most challenging part about filing a sales tax return in Georgia. Georgia sales tax compliance has many local county and special taxing jurisdictions with varied rates. In total, there are 161 different local taxing rates. On average, the range of the local jurisdiction sales tax rate is usually somewhere between 2% to 4.9%.

Written By Alex Quarterman

Have a question? Contact Aaron Giles, Giles Consulting.

Aaron Giles

Aaron C. Giles is the Founder and President of Agile Consulting Group. Aaron spent five years working within the specialty niche of Sales & Use Tax at Brown & Associates before forming his own firm in 2005. He has worked hundreds of audits in states all across the U.S. during that time and has delivered savings of over $75M in the form of refunds and credits to his clients. Today, he leads a group of talented, detail-oriented colleagues who focus exclusively on Sales & Use Tax.

Some of our firms’ greatest achievements have come in successfully arguing new and unique perspectives to existing tax law in various states enabling our clients to claim exemptions on categories of purchases previously held to be taxable. Included in these victories are: communication services taxes for religious nonprofit hospitals in FL, bulk purchases of drugs in VA, specific surgical tools and instruments for healthcare providers in TX, printing plates in GA, railroad utilities in KY, and most recently software in AL.