Barrow County, GA Short-Term Rentals: Taxes & Fees (2026)

Section 26-155(a)(7) through (9), part of the standard operational requirements every permitted short-term rental must meet, layers three separate financial obligations onto the one-time permit fee. First, the owner must pay the county's occupation tax and follow the county's general business license rules, folding the short-term rental into the same occupation tax structure that applies to any business operating in unincorporated Barrow County under Chapter 26's business and occupational license article. Second, the owner must keep current on all property taxes owed on the real property where the rental sits; unpaid property taxes are themselves grounds under Section 26-154(a)(7)(b) to deny a new or renewal permit.

Third, the owner must collect and remit lodging excise taxes as required by Article III of Chapter 82, the county's hotel-motel tax provisions, and by the Official Code of Georgia. Failing any of these three obligations does not just risk a tax bill: Section 26-156(2) allows the board of commissioners to immediately suspend or revoke a short-term rental permit for failure to pay fees, taxes, or other charges imposed under the article, and delinquent property taxes independently block permit renewal each year. An owner juggling multiple platforms or properties should treat occupation tax, property tax, and lodging excise tax as three separate compliance tracks tied to keeping the underlying rental permit alive, not a single bundled bill.