---
title: HB 474. Revenue and taxation; repeal an exemption for charges paid for continuous use of rooms, lodgings, or accommodations after the first 30 days of continuous occupancy
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb474
cite_as: HB 474, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb474
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb474.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb474/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70391
date: 2025-02-20
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md
previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb473.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb475.md
index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 129
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb474.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 474
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-02-18
last_action: House Second Readers
sponsors:
- Ron Stephens
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB474/2025
upstream_id: 1974377
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- hotel tax
- local government revenue
- tourism funding
- lodging accommodations
- property and sales taxes
---
# HB 474. Revenue and taxation; repeal an exemption for charges paid for continuous use of rooms, lodgings, or accommodations after the first 30 days of continuous occupancy
## Text
House Bill 474
By: Representative Stephens of the 164th
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Code Section 48-13-51 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
county and municipal levies on public accommodations charges for promotion of tourism,
conventions, and trade shows, so as to repeal an exemption for charges paid for continuous
use of rooms, lodgings, or accommodations after the first 30 days of continuous occupancy;
to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Code Section 48-13-51 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to county and
municipal levies on public accommodations charges for promotion of tourism, conventions,
and trade shows, is amended by revising subsection (h) as follows:
"(h) The tax authorized by this article shall not apply to:
(1) Charges made for any rooms, lodgings, or accommodations provided to any persons
who certify that they are staying in such room, lodging, or accommodation as a result of
the destruction of their home or residence by fire or other casualty;
(2) The use of meeting rooms and other such facilities or any rooms, lodgings, or
accommodations provided without charge; or
(3) Any rooms, lodgings, or accommodations furnished for a period of one or more days
for use by Georgia state or local governmental officials or employees when traveling on
official business. Notwithstanding the availability of any other means of identifying the
person as a state or local government official or employee, whenever a person pays for
any rooms, lodgings, or accommodations with a state or local government credit or debit
card, such rooms, lodgings, or accommodations shall be deemed to have been furnished
for use by a Georgia state or local government official or employee traveling on official
business for purposes of the exemption provided by this paragraph. For the purpose of
the exemption provided under this paragraph, a local government official or employee
shall include officials or employees of counties, municipalities, consolidated
governments, or county or independent school districts; or
(4) Charges made for continuous use of any rooms, lodgings, or accommodations after
the first 30 days of continuous occupancy."
SECTION 2.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
## Summaries written by Georgia Commons
The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.
House Bill 474 would remove a state tax exemption so that Georgia's local hotel and lodging taxes apply to guests who stay in the same room for more than 30 days in a row, not just short-term visitors.
### Plain-language summary
Under current Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 48-13-51), counties and cities can charge a public accommodations tax on hotel and lodging bills to fund tourism, conventions, and trade show promotion. That law currently exempts charges for continuous occupancy after the first 30 days, meaning long-term guests stop paying the tax once they pass a month in the same room.
House Bill 474 repeals that 30-day exemption. It rewrites subsection (h) of the code section to drop paragraph (4), which listed the exemption, while keeping the other exemptions in place: charges for people displaced by fire or disaster, free meeting rooms or accommodations, and rooms used by state or local government employees traveling on official business. The bill makes small wording tweaks to those remaining exemptions but does not change their substance. It repeals conflicting laws but does not state a separate effective date.
### What it does
- Repeals the exemption that let hotels and lodgings stop charging the local public accommodations tax after a guest's stay passed 30 continuous days.
- Keeps in place the existing exemption for people whose homes were destroyed by fire or other casualty and who are staying in lodging as a result.
- Keeps the exemption for free meeting rooms and accommodations provided without charge, with minor wording changes.
- Keeps the exemption for state and local government officials or employees traveling on official business, including when paying with a government credit or debit card.
### Who it affects
Hotels, motels, extended-stay lodgings, and other public accommodations in Georgia; guests who stay in the same room for more than 30 days in a row; and county and municipal governments that collect the accommodations tax to fund tourism and convention promotion.
### Why it matters
Long-term hotel guests, such as traveling workers or people in extended temporary housing, would start paying local accommodations tax on their entire stay instead of just the first 30 days, which could raise their lodging costs while increasing revenue local governments use for tourism and convention promotion.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 48-13-51(h) by removing paragraph (4), which had exempted charges for continuous occupancy after the first 30 days.
- Section 1 retains the exemption for guests displaced by fire or other casualty who certify their situation.
- Section 1 retains the exemption for free meeting rooms and accommodations, and for government officials or employees traveling on official business, including via government payment cards.
- Section 2 repeals any laws that conflict with the Act, without naming a specific new effective date in the text.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2025-02-18)
- Last action: House Second Readers (2025-02-20)
- Sponsors: Ron Stephens
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70391
> The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb474.md?full=1