Brookhaven, GA Local Taxes & Fees: Business Tax Classification (2026)

Sec. 15-42 is the classification step in Article II of Chapter 15. Every person engaged in business requiring the payment of occupational taxes is classified by major line of business under the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS), and profitability classes are assigned from Statistics of Income, Business Income Tax Returns, published by the U.S. Treasury Department, Internal Revenue Service. The finance department reviews assignments on a biannual basis and reassigns businesses to the most accurate class. The city council established the profitability classifications, and a copy is kept in the office of the city clerk for public inspection.

A business with more than one activity is classified by its dominant business activity at each location. The exception: if the dominant activity is legally exempt, the business is classified by its principal subsidiary business that is subject to the levy. Sec. 15-29 has the owner identify the line or lines of business at registration with the finance department, and Sec. 15-32 treats each fixed location and each tradename as separate. The tax comes from applying the gross receipts and number of employees returned to the city to the profitability classification for that business type.

The return is due on or before February 1 with the prior calendar year's gross receipts (Sec. 15-30). Tax is due January 1 and delinquent if unpaid by April 15 (Sec. 15-33). Sec. 15-36 states the tax is for revenue purposes only, not regulatory purposes. Sec. 15-43 excludes casual and isolated transactions grossing less than $12,000.00 in otherwise taxable receipts per year, but street vendor, transient vendor and flea market vendor activity never qualifies. Sec. 15-35 lets professionals listed in O.C.G.A. § 48-13-9(c)(1) through (18) elect a per-practitioner fee instead.

A classification dispute starts with a written complaint to the city clerk, which the city must answer in writing within 30 calendar days (Sec. 15-47). The appeal then goes to the certificate review hearing officer under Sec. 15-48, administered by the director of finance.