Bartow County, GA Hotels & Lodging: Transient Occupancy Tax (2026)

1. Within that district, section 44-402 levies an 8 percent excise tax on the furnishing for value of any room, lodging or accommodation by a business operating a hotel, motel, inn, lodge, tourist camp, tourist cabin, travel trailer park, RV park, campground, or any other place that regularly furnishes rooms or lodging. Section 44-403 exempts charges for rooms provided free of charge, meeting rooms, rooms given to fire or casualty victims, rooms billed to state or local government employees traveling on official business, and any stay beyond the first 30 consecutive days of continuous occupancy.

Every operator must register with the county clerk under section 44-404 before doing business, and the county then issues a certificate of authority to collect the tax from occupants. Section 44-405 sets the due date: the tax collected each month is due to the county by the 20th of the following month, with a return filed under section 44-406 detailing gross rent, exempt rent from permanent residents, and taxable rent. Failure to file lets the chief financial officer estimate the tax owed under section 44-408, and any deficiency determination carries one percent monthly interest under section 44-407.

Under section 44-409, revenue above what a 3 percent rate would raise, up to 2 percent of collections, funds a tourism-promotion contract, and revenue above a 5 percent rate is split between destination marketing and tourism product development. Section 44-414 makes payment of the tax a condition of doing business: nonpayment is grounds for automatic revocation of the operator's business license, and no new license issues while any part of the tax remains unpaid.