Georgia hotel-motel tax vs restaurant sales tax: what each covers

If your business sits inside a hotel, runs a bed and breakfast or serves guests who are staying nearby, you may be asked which tax applies to what. Georgia treats lodging and food differently, and mixing them up can lead to over-collecting from guests or under-reporting to the state. This guide, checked in October 2026, explains the difference in general terms and shows how a business that sells both rooms and meals should handle its books. It is general information, not tax advice. Rates and rules change, so no rate is given here. Ask the Georgia Department of Revenue and your accountant for the current rules.

What is the hotel-motel tax?

The hotel-motel tax is a charge on lodging. The state Department of Revenue describes a state hotel-motel fee that is a set amount per night on the rental of a room by an innkeeper, subject to listed exclusions, and the department updated its rule on the fee in 2025, so check the current figure. Separately, counties and cities may levy a local excise tax on the charge for rooms and lodgings under a state law, with a cap on the rate, and the Department of Community Affairs publishes the rates by jurisdiction. Savannah's city page notes that the local hotel and motel tax is in addition to the state sales and use tax on the room.

Does the hotel-motel tax apply to restaurant meals?

No, the hotel-motel tax is a tax on the room. Restaurant meals are sold under Georgia's general sales tax rules, with the state and local rates that apply where you operate, and in some places a separate local tax on food and beverage. Confirm the meal rules for your location with the Department of Revenue. The point for your books is that the two taxes have different bases and different returns.

How does a hotel restaurant keep the two apart?

Set up separate revenue accounts and separate tax codes in your point-of-sale and accounting systems: one for room charges and one for food and beverage. If a guest charges a meal to the room, the meal should appear as a separate line on the folio, taxed as food, and the room charge as lodging. Train the front desk and the dining room to use the same codes. A hotel that bundles a breakfast into the room price should ask the Department how to allocate the amount between lodging and food.

What about packages and bundled prices?

Packages such as a room with dinner, a wedding block with a meal or a weekend that includes brunch are common. When one price covers lodging and food, the allocation matters, because the room portion may carry lodging taxes and the food portion sales tax. Itemize the package on the invoice. Ask your accountant to confirm the method, and apply it the same way each time. Keep the contract that defines the bundle.

Who collects and who files?

The business that sells the room is responsible for collecting the lodging taxes and filing the returns, and the business that sells the meal collects the sales tax. If one company does both, it files both. If a restaurant leases space from a hotel, the lease should say who collects and files for what, and the restaurant's sales tax account should be in its own name. Ask the Department how to register.

What about bed and breakfasts and short stays?

A bed and breakfast that serves a morning meal to guests faces the same split: lodging tax on the room and sales tax on the food, if the meal is separately charged. Short-term rental rules vary by city, and online marketplaces may collect some taxes for hosts. Check whether the platform collects and remits, and what you must still do.

If you rent rooms through an online platform, ask whether the platform collects the state fee or local excise tax and whether you must register with the city. Some cities require a license for short-term rentals and set their own rules on the length of stay and who is responsible for taxes. A restaurant that sells to guests of a nearby hotel, for example through a room-charge arrangement, should confirm who collects the tax on the meal and how the hotel settles the account.

What records should you keep?

Keep separate reports of room revenue and food revenue, the tax collected on each, the returns filed and the payments made. Keep exemption certificates for government and nonprofit guests, and for exempt sales. Review them quarterly. A clean split makes an audit much simpler.

What should you do now?

Ask the Department of Revenue for the current guidance on meals and lodging, and ask the Department of Community Affairs or your city for the local lodging rates. Ask your accountant to review your point-of-sale codes. Then write a one-page procedure for the front desk and the restaurant, and update it each January.

If you run events, such as weddings with a room block, write the tax treatment into the contract so that the client knows what is taxed and why. Use a different sales tax code for banquet charges, service charges and room rental fees if your accountant says so. Train managers to explain the lines on a folio, since guests often ask why a charge is taxed. Keep a short written explanation at the front desk.

More guides for your business:

• Georgia alcohol licenses and Sunday brunch hours for restaurants
• Georgia tip pooling and service charge rules for restaurants (2026)
• Georgia tipped wage and tip credit for restaurants: what applies in 2026

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