Bulloch County, GA Local Taxes & Fees: Business Tax Classification (2026)
Key Facts
- Flat-fee election
- $400.00 per listed practitioner
- Return due date
- July 1 annually
- Late penalty
- 10% plus 1.5%/month interest after 90 days
- Max court fine
- $500.00 civil fine, Magistrate Court
- Administering agency
- County development services division
Summary
Bulloch County levies an annual occupation tax on every business or practitioner with a location or office in the unincorporated area, and on out-of-state businesses that solicit here or own income property here. Certain licensed professionals can elect a flat $400 fee instead of a gross-receipts-based tax.
(a)Commencing on July 1, 2010, and for each succeeding year thereafter, an annual occupation tax as set forth in the county's schedule of fees and charges for each location or office is levied on those businesses and practitioners of professions and occupations with one or more locations or offices in the unincorporated part of the county; provided, however, that a business or practitioner shall not be required to pay more than one occupation tax for each office or location. ... (c)Real estate brokers shall be subject to occupation tax pursuant to this article only if they maintain a principal or branch office in the unincorporated area.(d)Practitioners of professions and occupations who are listed in O.C.G.A. 48-13-9(c)(1)—(18) shall elect as their entire occupation tax one of the following:(1)The occupation tax resulting from application of the other provisions of this article; or(2)A fee in the amount of $400.00 per practitioner who is licensed to provide the service, such tax to be paid at that practitioner's office or location; provided, however, that a practitioner paying according to this paragraph shall not be required to provide information to the county relating to the gross receipts of the business or practitioner.
Full Breakdown
Under Bulloch County Code § 12-232, an annual occupation tax applies to each location or office of a business or practitioner operating in unincorporated Bulloch County; a business with multiple locations pays once per office, not once county-wide. Businesses or practitioners with no office anywhere in Georgia still owe the tax if they have employees or agents who exert substantial efforts here to solicit business or serve customers, or if they own income-generating personal or real property in the unincorporated county, unless they prove they already pay an occupation tax to the Georgia local government where their largest dollar volume of business occurs, or a comparable out-of-state business tax.
Real estate brokers owe the tax only if they maintain a principal or branch office in the unincorporated area. 00 fee per licensed practitioner at that practitioner's office, and if they choose the flat fee they are not required to disclose gross receipts to the county. An occupation tax certificate is nontransferable: transferring more than half the ownership interest in a business is treated as terminating the old business and starting a new one, triggering a fresh classification and tax obligation. Returns are due by July 1 each year (Bulloch County Code § 12-236), and the county's development services division administers and enforces the article under § 12-239, with unpaid taxes subject to citation and prosecution in Magistrate Court.
Violations & Fines
Failing or refusing to pay the occupation tax or administrative fee, or violating any other provision of the occupation tax article, exposes a business or practitioner to citation and prosecution in the Magistrate Court of Bulloch County, where conviction carries a civil fine of up to $500.00 under § 12-239(c). A tax or fee left unpaid 90 days past its due date draws a ten percent penalty plus interest at one and one-half percent per month under § 12-238(d), and any deficiency found on audit of a business's books draws the same ten percent penalty and 1.5% monthly interest under § 12-236(c). Nonpayment or refusal to allow inspection of records also automatically revokes the business's occupation tax certificate under § 12-239(d), and no new certificate issues until all delinquent taxes, fees and interest are paid or the required inspection is permitted.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I owe Bulloch County occupation tax for each office I run?
Can a doctor or engineer just pay a flat fee instead of reporting income?
Does a real estate broker without a local office owe this tax?
What happens if I sell most of my business?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Bulloch County
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