O.C.G.A.
O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 48-8-1 (2019)

Intent of article with respect to taxation of tangible personal property and services; constitutional and other exemptions

✓ O.C.G.A. — 2019 edition (Public.Resource.Org Release 73)
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.
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It is the intention of the General Assembly in enacting this article to exercise its full and complete power to tax the retail purchase, retail sale, rental, storage, use, and consumption of tangible personal property and the services described in this article except to the extent

prohibited by the Constitutions of the United States and of this state and except to the extent of specific exemptions provided in this article.

History

Ga. L. 1951, p. 360, § 4; Ga. L. 1965, p. 13, § 2; Code 1933, § 91A-4506, enacted by Ga. L. 1978, p. 309, § 2; Ga. L. 1979, p. 5, § 93.

Annotations

Law reviews. For article, “Clarification Needed in Georgia Retail Sales and Use Tax Statute,” see 41 Mercer L. Rev. 1 (1989).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS Tax on receipts derived from use of leased vehicle in interstate commerce. - Imposition of sales tax on that part of lease receipts derived from use of a leased vehicle in interstate commerce does not constitute a burden on interstate commerce and is therefore not within the exemption created by this section, which provides that it is not the intention of Ga. L. 1951, p. 360 (see now O.C.G.A. § 48-8-1 et seq.) to levy a tax on bona fide interstate commerce. Oxford v. Blankenship, 106 Ga. App. 546, 127 S.E.2d 706, 1962 Ga. App. LEXIS 767 (1962). Trial court’s grant of summary judgment to the Georgia Department of Revenue on a limousine company’s petition for a refund and declaration was upheld as no part of the Georgia Limousine Carrier Act, including O.C.G.A. § 40-1-168, barred the

imposition and collection of state or local-option sales taxes from for-hire car services such as the limousine company for the rental of its limousines or cars. Exec. Limousine Transp., Inc. v. Curry, 361 Ga. App. 626, 865 S.E.2d 217, 2021 Ga. App. LEXIS 522 (2021). Standard of review. - In a case challenging denial of sales tax refunds, the trial court’s ruling was vacated because while the ruling stated the correct standard of review in the decision, the court summarily disregarded certain of Georgia Tax Tribunal’s explicit factual findings, which if there was any evidence to support those findings, contravened the deferential legal framework to be applied therefrom. T-Mobile South v. Crittenden, 364 Ga. App. 523, 875 S.E.2d 524, 2022 Ga. App. LEXIS 338 (2022).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL Taxation of trucks leased in state. - Any person or company engaged in the business of leasing trucks in this state has an obligation under Ga. L. 1951, p. 360 (see now O.C.G.A. § 48-8-1 et seq.) to pay tax on the gross proceeds to the commissioner and to pass the tax on to the lessee as an additional charge. The fact that the lessee may use a leased truck partially or exclusively in interstate hauls is immaterial so long as the first use under the rental contract is within this state. 1957 Ga. Op. Att’y Gen. 321.

Exemption of property used, consumed exclusively outside state. - Construing Ga. L. 1951, p. 360 (see now O.C.G.A. § 48-8-1 et seq.), purchases made in this state of tangible personal property to be used or consumed or stored exclusively outside this state are not subject to the tax imposed by Ga. L. 1951, p. 360, and dealers are not required to collect the tax from such purchasers. 1954-56 Ga. Op. Att’y Gen. 865.

RESEARCH REFERENCES Am. Jur. 2d. 67B Am. Jur. 2d, Sales and Use Taxes, §§ 62, 134. ALR. Eyeglasses or other optical accessories

as subject to sales or use tax, 14 A.L.R.4th 1370.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 12 cases (4 in the last 5 years), 1983–2025 · leading case: Funvestment Grp., LLC v. Crittenden, 317 Ga. 288 (Ga. 2023).
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Funvestment Grp., LLC v. Crittenden, 317 Ga. 288 (Ga. 2023). · cites it 8× “136, which authorized the levy and collection of a general sales and use tax, now codified at OCGA § 48-8-1 et seq. It is the intention of the General Assembly in enacting this article to exercise its full and complete power to tax the retail purchase, retail sale, rental,…”
ChoicePoint Servs., Inc. v. Graham, 699 S.E.2d 452 (Ga. Ct. App. 2010). · cites it 4× “12 OCGA § 48-8-1. 13 See, e.g., OCGA § 48-8-2 (31) (retail sales include some sales of or charges for telephone services, transportation, electricity, lodging furnished to transients, and entertainment); OCGA § 48-8-30 (a) (imposing a tax on retail purchase, retail sale, rental,…”
Collins v. Birchfield, 447 S.E.2d 38 (Ga. Ct. App. 1994). · cites it 4× “See also OCGA § 48-15-1 (the Excise Tax on Marijuana and Controlled Substances) and OCGA § 48-8-1 (Sales and Use Taxes). Pursuant to OCGA § 50-13-12, Birchfield appealed the assessments within 30 days.”
Charter Med. Infomation Servs., Inc. v. Collins, 470 S.E.2d 655 (Ga. 1996). · cites it 2× “1 The demand was made pursuant to OCGA § 48-8-30 (a) of the Georgia Retailers’ and Consumers’ Sales and Use Tax Act, as amended, OCGA § 48-8-1 et seq. 2 By stipulation of the parties, that assessed amount was set off by a credit of $18,435.”
Collins v. Cw Matthews Contracting Co. Inc., 444 S.E.2d 100 (Ga. Ct. App. 1994). · cites it 2× “In granting summary judgment in favor of Matthews, and deciding that none of the assessed local use taxes were due, the superior court correctly noted that Matthews had paid the applicable state sales tax when the equipment at issue was purchased in-state and that no duplicate…”
Strickland v. W. E. Ross & Sons, Inc., 304 S.E.2d 719 (Ga. 1983). · cites it 2× “The Department of Revenue has defined three pertinent classes of taxpayer pursuant to the Sales and Use Tax Act codified at OCGA § 48-8-1 et seq. (Code Ann. Chs. 91A-45, 91A-46, 91A-99).”
Collins v. Prince Street Tech. Ltd., 469 S.E.2d 700 (Ga. Ct. App. 1996). · cites it 2× “The Georgia Retail Sales and Use Tax Act, OCGA § 48-8-1 et seq., sets forth those transactions that are subject to state sales and use taxes.”
Outdoor Displays Welding & Fabrication, Inc. v. U.S. Enter., Inc. (In re Outdoor Displays Welding & Fabrication, Inc.), 84 B.R. 260 (D. Ga. 1988). · cites it 2× “The parties do not dispute that the transactions in question were ones upon which the State of Georgia could legitimately levy a sales tax in accordance with the provisions of Official Code of Georgia Annotated § 48-8-1 et seq.”
Exec. Limousine Transp., Inc. v. David Curry, in His Off. Capacity as Revenue Comm'r of the Georgia Dep't of Revenue (Ga. Ct. App. 2021). · cites it 2× “) OCGA § 48-8-1. This expansive language in favor of taxation is in accordance with the maxim that “[t]axation is the rule, and exemption from taxation the exception.”
T-Mobile South, LLC v. Robyn A. Crittenden, in Her Off. Capacity as Comm'r of the Georgia Dep't of Revenue (Ga. Ct. App. 2022). · cites it 2× “4 See OCGA § 48-8-1 (noting that there are specific exemptions to the taxing of, among other things, the purchase, use, and sale of property and services).”
Uber Tech., Inc. v. Frank M. O'connell, in His Off. Capacity as Revenue Comm'r of the State of Georgia (Ga. Ct. App. 2025). · cites it 2× “OCGA § 48-8-1. “This expansive language in favor of taxation is in accordance with the maxim that ‘taxation is the rule, and exemption from taxation the exception.”
C. W. Matthews Contracting Co. v. Collins, 457 S.E.2d 171 (Ga. 1995). · cites it 2× “, 13 wherein the Court of Appeals ordered refunds under OCGA § 50-17-29 (e) of local sales and use taxes collected in connection with highway construction performed by the taxpayer for the State Department of Transportation. In this case, however, Matthews does not contend that…”
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.