7 Local Taxes That Change What Georgians Pay at the Grocery Register

Richmond County’s combined sales tax rate rises to 9% on October 1, according to the Georgia Department of Revenue’s quarterly rate chart.

That’s half a point higher than today’s 8.5%.

Georgia’s 4% state sales tax has never touched a grocery cart, but shoppers still pay for every one of those local changes at the register.

These are the local taxes that change what Georgians pay at the grocery register, county by county.

Note: This is general information, not tax advice. Local sales tax rates change quarterly and vary by county, so confirm the current rate with the Georgia Department of Revenue.

1. SPLOST Still on Your Cart

Georgia’s Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) pays for new schools, roads, and county buildings, and voters renew it county by county every few years.

Groceries don’t skip it.

Cobb County’s combined rate sits at 6%, per the state’s current rate chart.

Once the state’s 4% grocery exemption cancels out, the remaining 2% still applies to every carton of eggs and box of cereal.

Gwinnett County runs the identical math.

That’s roughly a dollar and change of local tax on a $60 grocery run, even though the state’s share comes to zero.

Fulton County’s current entry on that same chart carries no separate SPLOST line at all this quarter, a reminder that the tax lapses whenever voters don’t renew it in time.

2. ESPLOST for Almost Everybody

Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST) money builds and repairs Georgia’s public schools.

It shows up in nearly every county’s tax code on the state’s current rate chart.

DeKalb, Cobb, Gwinnett, Chatham, Clarke, Richmond, and Muscogee counties all carry it.

Not one exception.

Every other local tax on this list has at least one county that skips it or carves out a break for groceries.

ESPLOST doesn’t.

3. LOST and Your County Line

A Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) trades a slice of sales tax revenue for lower property tax bills.

Georgia leaves the decision to adopt one up to each county.

Fulton, Chatham, Clarke, Richmond, Muscogee, Glynn, and Bibb counties collect it on every grocery purchase, per the state’s rate chart.

Cobb, Gwinnett, and DeKalb don’t.

Those three counties lean on other local levies instead, which is one reason the exact same grocery total can carry a different tax load a few miles apart.

4. HOST’s Swap With LOST in DeKalb

DeKalb County swaps in a Homestead Option Sales Tax (HOST) instead of a Local Option Sales Tax, using the extra revenue to offset homeowners’ property tax bills.

That’s not the only thing that makes DeKalb different.

Buy a non-food item in DeKalb outside Atlanta, and the state’s current rate chart puts the combined tax at 8%.

Buy groceries at that same store, and a separate line on the state’s food-tax chart puts DeKalb’s exempt-food rate at the same 8%.

The county never adopted a Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, the one tax that gives groceries a break in other counties on this list.

DeKalb shoppers get no grocery break at all.

5. TSPLOST’s Sometimes Transportation Penny

A Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (TSPLOST) pays for road, bridge, and transit projects.

Georgia counties vote it in one at a time, per the Department of Revenue.

Fulton, Clarke, Richmond, and Muscogee all currently carry one.

Cobb, Gwinnett, Chatham, and Glynn don’t.

That extra transportation tax skips exempt food, the same way Georgia’s 4% state rate does.

A Fulton County shopper skips that TSPLOST charge on groceries at checkout, even though the store still charges it on a phone charger in the same cart.

6. Atlanta’s Extra Water Tax Layer

Atlanta layers a local Municipal Option Sales Tax (MOST) on top of the county rate.

The city has renewed that 1-cent tax by referendum since 2004 to fund water and sewer repairs.

Cross into the city limits, and a grocery cart’s local tax rises with it.

Unincorporated Fulton charges 7% local tax on exempt food, but the same store just inside Atlanta charges 8.5%, per the state’s current rate chart.

That’s a point and a half of extra local tax, just for crossing a street.

7. Richmond County’s Brand-New Floating Tax

Richmond County voters approved a Floating Local Option Sales Tax (FLOST) on the May 2026 ballot.

It’s a 0.5% tax built to lower property tax bills instead of fund one earmarked project.

Unlike SPLOST or ESPLOST, FLOST is written to apply to food and beverages by design, according to Augusta’s government page.

Collection starts October 1, the same date that pushes Richmond County’s combined rate to 9%, according to the state’s rate-change bulletin.

That ties Muscogee County for the highest combined rate this list found in Georgia.

When the Exemption Disappears

Georgia's grocery exemption stops the moment food counts as prepared under the state's regulation.

A rotisserie chicken pulled hot from the case, a made-to-order deli sandwich, or anything sold with a fork or a spoon.

It all loses the exemption.

Georgia taxes it like a restaurant meal instead: The full state rate plus every local tax on this list, no carve-outs.