SB522: SB522 Excise Taxes on Rental Motor Vehicles; fee on rental motor vehicles; provide

Georgia already taxes rental motor vehicles under a section of state law (O.C.G.A. Title 48, Chapter 13, Article 5). This bill adds a new part to that law creating an additional flat fee: $5.00 per calendar day for each rental or leased vehicle, charged to the customer by the rental company. The fee would not apply to a 'temporary replacement motor vehicle,' defined as a car rented while a customer's own vehicle is out of service due to breakdown, repair, damage, or loss. Rental companies would collect the fee at checkout and send collected fees to the Georgia Department of Revenue by the 15th of the following month. The Revenue Commissioner would create compliance forms and could issue rules to implement the fee. The bill states the General Assembly's intent that at least 20 percent of the money collected be used exclusively for tourism purposes in Georgia, subject to future state funding decisions. The fee would take effect July 1, 2026.

• Creates a new $5.00 per day fee on rental or leased motor vehicles in Georgia, collected by the rental company from the customer at the time of payment.
• Exempts 'temporary replacement motor vehicles,' meaning cars rented while a customer's own vehicle is being repaired or replaced after breakdown, damage, or loss.
• Requires rental companies to remit all fees collected during a month to the Georgia Department of Revenue by the 15th of the following month.
• Directs the Revenue Commissioner to create compliance forms and allows the Commissioner to issue rules and regulations to carry out the fee.
• States the General Assembly's intent that at least 20 percent of the fees collected be used exclusively for tourism purposes in Georgia, subject to future state funding decisions.
• Sets the fee's effective date as July 1, 2026, and repeals any conflicting laws.

People and businesses that rent or lease motor vehicles in Georgia, including tourists, business travelers, and residents who rent cars, along with rental car companies that must collect and remit the fee and the Georgia Department of Revenue, which administers it.

Anyone renting a car in Georgia after July 1, 2026 would pay an extra $5 for each day of the rental, raising the daily cost of renting a vehicle. The new revenue is intended, in part, to help fund state tourism promotion, though the tourism share depends on future state funding decisions.

• Section 1 adds a new Part 2 to Article 5 of Chapter 13 of Title 48 of the Georgia Code, covering excise taxes on rental motor vehicles.
• New Code Section 48-13-100.1(a) defines a 'temporary replacement motor vehicle' as one rented while a customer's regular vehicle is unavailable due to breakdown, repair, service, damage, or loss.
• Subsection (b) sets a $5.00 per day fee on rental or leased vehicles starting July 1, 2026, exempts temporary replacement vehicles, and requires monthly remittance to the department by the 15th.
• Subsection (c) clarifies the new fee does not affect or void any existing rental contracts already in place.
• Subsection (d) directs the Commissioner to provide compliance forms and allows rulemaking to implement the fee.
• Subsection (e) expresses legislative intent that at least 20 percent of the fees collected go toward tourism purposes in Georgia, subject to appropriations.
• Section 2 repeals any laws that conflict with the new fee provisions.

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
• excise taxes
• travel costs