---
title: O.C.G.A. § 48-5-451. Penalty for failure to make return or pay tax on motor vehicle or mobile home.
collection: code
id: 48-5-451
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 48-5-451 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/48-5-451
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/48-5-451.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/48-5-451/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t48-ch1-6-(v36)-2024-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=2edc88a7_0#page=834
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
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publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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version: the only printed version
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current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: REVENUE AND TAXATION / AD VALOREM TAXATION OF PROPERTY / AD VALOREM TAXATION OF MOTOR VEHICLES, MOBILE HOMES, CERTAIN EQUIPMENT, AND CERTAIN INVENTORY / GENERAL PROVISIONS
---

# O.C.G.A. § 48-5-451. Penalty for failure to make return or pay tax on motor vehicle or mobile home.

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this Code section, every owner of a motor vehicle or a mobile home, in addition to the ad valorem tax due on the motor vehicle or mobile home, shall be liable for a penalty of 10 percent of the tax due or $5.00, whichever is greater, for the failure to make the return or pay the tax in accordance with this article.

(b) Any Georgia resident who voluntarily cancels the registration of his or her motor vehicle pursuant to Code Section 40-2-10 shall not be assessed any penalty for failure to pay the tax due on a motor vehicle under subsection (a) of this Code section for any such period of time. Any such person shall remain liable for the ad valorem tax due on a motor vehicle he or she owns. This subsection shall not apply to motor vehicles subject to Code Section 48-5-441.1. The commissioner shall promulgate any necessary rules and forms to implement the provisions of this subsection.

## History

Ga. L. 1966, p. 517, § 8; Ga. L. 1976, p. 1529, § 9; Code 1933, § 91A-1931, enacted by Ga. L. 1978, p. 309, § 2; Ga. L. 1990, p. 2048, § 16; Ga. L. 1995, p. 809, § 16; Ga. L. 1996, p. 1118, § 15; Ga. L. 2015, p. 825, § 1/HB 94.

## Editor's Notes

Ga. L. 1995, p. 809, § 22, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “Any local law enacted pursuant to Code Section 40-2-21, which is in conflict with the provisions of this Act, shall stand repealed on the effective date of this Act.” The Act became effective January 1, 1997.

Ga. L. 1996, p. 1118, § 17, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “Any local Act enacted pursuant to Code Section 40-2-21 which is in conflict with the provisions of this Act shall stand repealed on the effective date of this Act; provided, however, that any local Act enacted in 1996 pursuant to the provisions of Code Section 40-2-21 as enacted by Act No. 385, Ga. L. 1995, which local Act provides for a four-month staggered registration period for a county, shall not be repealed by the provisions of this Act, but the registration period for such county shall be as provided by subparagraph (a)(1)(B) of Code Section 40-2-21 as enacted by this Act and not as provided in such local Act.” The Act became effective January 1, 1997.

Ga. L. 1996, p. 1118, § 18, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “Those parts of Act No. 385, Ga. L. 1995, an Act amending Chapter 2 of Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to registration and licensing of motor vehicles, and amending Article 10 of Chapter 5 of Title 48 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to ad valorem taxation of motor vehicles and mobile homes, approved April 19, 1995, in conflict with this Act are repealed.”

Ga. L. 2015, p. 825, § 2/HB 94, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “This Act shall become effective on July 1, 2015, and shall be applicable to any penalties assessed on or after that date. Any proceedings instituted for the collection of penalties under the law in existence prior to July 1, 2015, shall not be affected by the enactment of this Act.”

## Administrative Rules and Regulations

Penalties, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Department of Revenue, Local Government Services Division, Uniform Procedures for Mobile Homes, § 560-11-9-.11.