SB 522: Excise Taxes on Rental Motor Vehicles; fee on rental motor vehicles; provide

Georgia already taxes rental motor vehicles under a separate part of state law. This bill adds a new part to that law creating an additional flat fee of $5.00 per calendar day on rental or leased motor vehicles, charged to the customer by the rental company. The fee would not apply to a 'temporary replacement motor vehicle,' defined as a vehicle rented while a person's own vehicle is out of service due to breakdown, repair, damage, or loss. Rental companies would collect the fee at the time of payment and must send the money collected each month to the Georgia Department of Revenue by the 15th of the following month. The bill directs the state revenue commissioner to create compliance forms and issue any needed rules. It also states the General Assembly's intent, subject to future state funding decisions, that at least 20 percent of the fees collected go toward tourism purposes in Georgia. The fee would start July 1, 2026, and would not affect existing rental contracts.

• Creates a new $5.00 per day fee on rental or leased motor vehicles in Georgia, charged to customers starting July 1, 2026.
• Exempts 'temporary replacement motor vehicles,' meaning cars rented while a customer's own vehicle is being repaired or replaced after loss.
• Requires rental motor vehicle companies to collect the fee at payment and remit it monthly to the Georgia Department of Revenue by the 15th.
• Directs the state revenue commissioner to create forms and rules to help rental companies comply with the new fee.
• States that at least 20 percent of the fee revenue is intended for tourism purposes, subject to future state funding decisions.
• Protects existing rental contracts from being affected by the new fee requirement.

Rental car and truck companies operating in Georgia, which must collect and remit the new fee; everyday Georgians and visitors who rent vehicles for personal or business use; and the Georgia Department of Revenue, which processes the collected fees and oversees compliance.

Anyone renting a car or truck in Georgia after July 1, 2026 would pay an extra $5.00 for each day of the rental, adding to the cost of travel and errands that require a rental vehicle. The added revenue is meant, in part, to help fund the state's tourism efforts, though that funding depends on future legislative appropriations.

• Section 1 adds a new Part 2 to Article 5, Chapter 13, Title 48 of Georgia's tax code, alongside the existing rental vehicle excise tax provisions, now labeled Part 1.
• New Code Section 48-13-100(a) defines 'temporary replacement motor vehicle' as a vehicle rented while a person's own vehicle is unavailable due to breakdown, repair, service, damage, or loss.
• Subsection (b) sets the $5.00 per day fee effective July 1, 2026, requires rental companies to collect it at time of payment, and requires monthly remittance to the Department of Revenue by the 15th of the following month.
• Subsection (c) specifies the new fee does not affect or void any existing rental contracts already in place.
• Subsection (d) authorizes the state revenue commissioner to create compliance forms and issue rules to implement the fee.
• Subsection (e) states the General Assembly's intent that at least 20 percent of collected fees be used exclusively for tourism purposes, subject to state appropriations.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-02-19Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2026-02-18Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Drew Echols (R, SD-049)Primary sponsor
• Russ Goodman (R, SD-008)
• Bo Hatchett (R, SD-050)
• Clint Dixon (R, SD-045)
• Billy Hickman (R, SD-004)
• Sonya Halpern (D, SD-039)
• Jason T. Dickerson (R, SD-021)
• Chuck Payne (R, SD-054)
• Randy Robertson (R, SD-029)
• Matt Brass (R, SD-006)

• rental car fees
• tourism funding
• state taxes
• transportation costs