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

The Business License and Revenue Division sets occupation tax by classifying the type of business against the 1987 Standard Industrial Classification Manual, then ranking that SIC code by nationwide profitability ratios the city updates from time to time under Code § 8-4-050. The tax rate on gross receipts is set from that profit class and tax class, and separately the city calculates a rate per employee; the business pays whichever of the two produces the greater tax. None of this is optional: § 8-4-110 requires the registration of each business to identify every line of business it conducts, and bars the business from conducting any line of business that has not been separately registered and noted on the certificate by the Business License and Revenue Division.

A business operating multiple lines under one roof cannot fold an unregistered line into its existing certificate; each must be identified and noted before that activity begins. The certificate itself must be displayed at the address where it was issued under § 8-4-090, and businesses with more than one store or location owe a separate tax and a separate license for each location under § 8-4-120, since each is treated as a separate business regardless of common ownership. 00 per-practitioner fee in lieu of the gross-receipts calculation, an election made annually by January 1.

Registration or a change of classification is handled through the same office that maintains the city's fee chart, published under the Open Records Request section of the city clerk's page.