O.C.G.A.

48-13-5

Definitions

Code text and O.C.G.A. statutory annotations on this page reflect the 2019 Official Code of Georgia Annotated (Public.Resource.Org Release 73, 2019-08-21; public domain per Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). The Syfert case-law annotations in Notes of Decisions, below, are current.
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section GA-LEGlegis.ga.gov (official) JustiaJustia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

Statute text

As used in this article, the term:

(1) "Administrative fee" means a component of an occupation tax which approximates the reasonable cost of handling and processing the occupation tax.

(1.1) (A) Except as otherwise provided in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, "employee" means an individual whose work is performed under the direction and supervision of the employer and whose employer withholds FICA, federal income tax, or state income tax from such individual's compensation or whose employer issues to such individual for purposes of documenting compensation a form I.R.S. W-2 but not a form I.R.S. 1099.

(B) An individual who performs work under the direction and supervision of one business or practitioner in accordance with the terms of a contract or agreement with another business which recruits such individual is an employee of the business or practitioner which issues to such individual for purposes of documenting compensation a form I.R.S. W-2.

(2) (A) "Gross receipts" means total revenue of the business or practitioner for the period, including without being limited to the following:

(i) Total income without deduction for the cost of goods sold or expenses incurred;

(ii) Gain from trading in stocks, bonds, capital assets, or instruments of indebtedness;

(iii) Proceeds from commissions on the sale of property, goods, or services;

(iv) Proceeds from fees charged for services rendered; and

(v) Proceeds from rent, interest, royalty, or dividend income.

(B) Gross receipts shall not include the following:

(i) Sales, use, or excise taxes;

(ii) Sales returns, allowances, and discounts;

(iii) Interorganizational sales or transfers between or among the units of a parent-subsidiary controlled group of corporations, as defined by 26 U.S.C. Section 1563(a)(1), between or among the units of a brother-sister controlled group of corporations, as defined by 26 U.S.C. Section 1563(a)(2), between or among a parent corporation, wholly owned subsidiaries of such parent corporation, and any corporation in which such parent corporation or one or more of its wholly owned subsidiaries owns stock possessing at least 30 percent of the total value of shares of all classes of stock of such partially owned corporation, or between or among wholly owned partnerships or other wholly owned entities;

(iv) Payments made to a subcontractor or an independent agent for services which contributed to the gross receipts in issue;

(v) Governmental and foundation grants, charitable contributions, or the interest income derived from such funds, received by a nonprofit organization which employs salaried practitioners otherwise covered by this chapter, if such funds constitute 80 percent or more of the organization's receipts; and

(vi) Proceeds from sales of goods or services which are delivered to or received by customers who are outside the state at the time of delivery or receipt.

(3) "Location or office" shall include any structure or vehicle where a business, profession, or occupation is conducted, but shall not include a temporary or construction work site which serves a single customer or project or a vehicle used for sales or delivery by a business or practitioner of a profession or occupation which has a location or office. The renter's or lessee's location which is the site of personal property which is rented or leased from another does not constitute a location or office for the personal property's owner, lessor, or the agent of the owner or lessor. The site of real property which is rented or leased to another does not constitute a location or office for the real property's owner, lessor, or the agent of the owner or lessor unless the real property's owner, lessor, or the agent of the owner or lessor, in addition to showing the property to prospective lessees or tenants and performing maintenance or repair of the property, otherwise conducts the business of renting or leasing the real property at such site or otherwise conducts any other business, profession, or occupation at such site.

(4) "Occupation tax" means a tax levied on persons, partnerships, corporations, or other entities for engaging in an occupation, profession, or business and enacted by a local government as a revenue-raising ordinance or resolution.

(5) "Practitioners of professions and occupations" shall not include a practitioner who is an employee of a business, if the business pays an occupation tax.

(6) "Regulatory fees" means payments, whether designated as license fees, permit fees, or by another name, which are required by a local government as an exercise of its police power and as a part of or as an aid to regulation of an occupation, profession, or business. The amount of a regulatory fee shall approximate the reasonable cost of the actual regulatory activity performed by the local government. A regulatory fee may not include an administrative fee or registration fee. No local government is authorized to require any administrative fee, registration fee, or fee by any other name in connection with a regulatory fee, except an occupation tax, as defined in paragraph (4) of this Code section. Regulatory fees do not include development impact fees as defined by paragraph (8) of Code Section 36-71-2 or other costs or conditions of zoning or land development.

History

(Code 1981, § 48-13-5, enacted by Ga. L. 1993, p. 1292, § 7; Ga. L. 1995, p. 419, § 1; Ga. L. 1999, p. 749, § 2; Ga. L. 2003, p. 596, § 1.)

Annotations

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

City responsible for occupation tax.- In a declaration suit, a city was properly determined not to be a local authority as that term is used in O.C.G.A. §48-13-13(5) and, thus, was subject to the levy of occupation taxes by another municipality for the city's proprietary operations at the city's airport, which was in the other municipality's city limits, because the terms local authority and municipality were not the same under the statute. City of Atlanta v. City of College Park, 292 Ga. 741, 741 S.E.2d 147 (2013).

Temporary work site exception.- Trial court erred in ruling that the exhibitors did not fall under the "temporary work site" as the exhibitors occupied a temporary work site for two days during the town's fair and were not automatically invited back. Because that exception applied, the town was not authorized to levy an occupation tax on the exhibitors under O.C.G.A. §48-13-6(b). Cotton Pickin' Fairs, Inc. v. Town of Gay, 346 Ga. App. 327, 816 S.E.2d 160 (2018).

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 9 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1985–2025 · leading case: Cotton Pickin' Fairs, Inc. v. Town of Gay
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Cotton Pickin' Fairs, Inc. v. Town of Gay (2018) gactapp · cites it 18× “See OCGA §§ 48-13-5 (3), 48-13-6 (b). We therefore reverse.”
City of Atlanta v. City of College Park (2011) gactapp · cites it 4× “2 OCGA § 48-13-5 (4) (defining an occupation tax as “a tax levied on persons, partnerships, corporations, or other entities for engaging in an occupation, profession, or business and enacted by a local government as a revenue-raising ordinance or resolution”).”
City of Atlanta v. City of College Park (2013) ga · cites it 2× “Accordingly, at first glance it would appear that where a municipality such as Atlanta is not acting to carry out a government function, but rather, is acting in a proprietary business capacity outside of its own territorial limits and within the municipal corporate limits of…”
Sexton v. City of Jonesboro (1997) ga · cites it 2× “The superior court upheld the ordinance and granted summary judgment in favor of the City after expressly finding that the imposition of criminal penalties by the City, pursuant to Secs.”
The MAYOR & ALDERMEN OF THE CITY OF SAVANNAH v. Canady (1985) ga · cites it 4× “Canady and others are all CPAs, licensed in Georgia, working for public accounting firms in Savannah, Georgia. Each is listed in the telephone directory yellow pages as a certified public accountant; each uses firm letterhead stationery; and each is authorized to contact…”
Hadley v. City of Atlanta (1998) gactapp · cites it 2× “We note that the question of whether the amount charged, for the renewal fee complies with the requirement in OCGA §§ 48-13-5 (6) and 48-13-9 (a) that it “approximate” the cost of regulation is a separate issue.”
City of Atlanta v. Shrader (1988) gactapp · cites it 2× “Evidently judging from the arguments on appeal, the trial court found Campbell and Saturday from 1979 to 1984 “practiced the profession” of embalming and “maintained an office” in Atlanta, so as to render them liable for assessment under OCGA § 48-13-5 (a). But, the trial court…”
CITY OF ATLANTA v. BLOCK, INC. OF DELAWARE (2025) gactapp · cites it 7× “This definition expressly excludes “[p]roceeds from sales of goods or services which are delivered to or received by customers who are outside the state at the time of delivery or receipt.”
City of Atlanta v. Daley (1987) ga · cites it 10× “Whether Daley and Kenkel lawfully may be taxed by the city will be governed by the provisions of OCGA § 48-13-5. (a) Since 1953, state statutes have provided that a municipality may levy a specified sum as a professional occupational tax upon practitioners of certain businesses…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.