Sales tax in Georgia for med spas
Georgia taxes retail sales of goods and a short list of services: lodging, in-state passenger transportation, admissions and amusements. Medical and cosmetic services are not on the list, so neuromodulator, filler, laser, microneedling, facials and body contouring are not taxed; the Department of Revenue even lists tattoos and tanning-bed time as not taxable.
The state rate is 4% and local add-ons run 2% to 5%: 8.9% inside the City of Atlanta (Fulton or DeKalb), 7.75% in Fulton outside the city (Alpharetta), 6% in Cobb (Marietta), 7% in Chatham (Savannah), 8% in Clarke (Athens) and 9% in Richmond (Augusta) and Muscogee (Columbus). Drugs dispensable only by prescription are exempt, so your neuromodulator order is exempt, but over-the-counter drugs are not: sunscreen and acne products are taxable here. The DOR treats service providers as end users, so you pay tax on gloves, numbing cream, linens and equipment, plus use tax on out-of-state equipment.
In Buckhead at 8.9%: a $600 neuromodulator treatment, a $120 serum and a $45 sunscreen on one ticket. Only the $165 of retail is taxed: $165 × 8.9% = $14.69; ticket total $779.69. Register through the Georgia Tax Center. Returns are due the 20th, most dealers file monthly, and timely filers keep vendor’s compensation of 3% of the first $3,000 of tax. Our med spa sales tax guide covers packages.
Who can own a med spa in Georgia (CPOM and supervision, summarized)
This is a summary, not legal advice. Georgia has no med spa license or statute and nothing expressly bars a non-physician from owning the business; the Composite Medical Board regulates through its licensees, and two rules draw the real lines. A Georgia professional corporation may issue shares only to people licensed and actively practicing in that profession (O.C.G.A. 14-7-5), so non-physician owners use an ordinary LLC with a physician under contract, or an MSO supporting a physician-owned practice.
The second rule is the one to watch in 2026. Under O.C.G.A. 43-34-25(n) and Board Rule 360-32-.04(5), a physician may not be an employee of the APRN they delegate to. On May 7, 2026 the Board issued a position statement reading “employee” to cover compensation of any kind, direct or indirect, W-2 or 1099, including fees paid to physician-matching services. An NP owner who pays her delegating physician sits inside that reading. The Board later called it preliminary guidance; it has not withdrawn it.
APRNs inject and prescribe under a nurse protocol agreement filed with the Board, PAs under a Board-approved job description, RNs on a provider’s order after a patient evaluation. Under the Cosmetic Laser Services Act the Board licenses assistant and senior laser practitioners for hair removal, IPL and non-ablative devices; anything beyond hair removal and IPL needs a consulting physician who examines the patient first. Confirm all of it with a health-care attorney licensed in Georgia.
State business taxes for a Georgia med spa entity
Georgia taxes income at the state level, and for 2026 it is one flat rate for everyone. HB 463, signed May 11, 2026, cut the individual rate from 5.19% to 4.99% retroactive to January 1, 2026, and the corporate rate is 4.99% too. LLC and S corporation profit flows to your Georgia Form 500 at 4.99%; a C corporation pays 4.99% on Form 600.
The Georgia-specific tax is the net worth tax, owed by every corporation doing business in the state, S corporations included, on the prior year’s ending balance sheet: $0 at $100,000 or less, $125 up to $150,000, $250 up to $500,000, and a $5,000 maximum above $22 million. An LLC taxed as a partnership or a disregarded single-member LLC does not owe it; an LLC that elected S status does. Form 600S is due March 15, 2027.
S corporations and partnerships may also make Georgia’s pass-through entity election on Form 600S or 700, paying the tax at the entity level at the individual rate (4.99% for 2026) so the owner deducts it federally. It is annual and irrevocable after the due date. With the federal SALT cap at $40,000 and phasing out, we run the numbers each year rather than electing by default; see our med spa tax deductions guide.
Payroll in Georgia for injectors and front desk
Georgia withholds state income tax: every hire completes a Form G-4 and you withhold at the 4.99% flat rate. Most small practices are monthly payers — over $200 a month withheld means a payment by the 15th of the next month and a Form G-7 each quarter — and once a quarter’s withholding tops $500 you pay electronically from then on. W-2s go to the state with Form G-1003 by February 1, 2027, now carrying overtime and cash-tip totals for Georgia’s new deductions.
Unemployment insurance runs through the Georgia Department of Labor: you are liable once you pay $1,500 of wages in a quarter or have an employee in 20 different weeks, then file the DOL-4N wage report quarterly. New employers pay a total rate of 2.70% on the first $9,500 of each employee’s wages, including the 0.06% administrative assessment scheduled through December 31, 2026, so a full-time injector costs $256.50 of Georgia unemployment tax a year.
Georgia has no paid-leave, disability or family-leave payroll program and no local payroll taxes. Workers’ compensation is mandatory at three or more workers, part-time included. Injectors are W-2 under the IRS common-law test — the practice controls schedule, protocols and pricing. See how we structure injector pay.
Registrations, filings and deadlines checklist for a Georgia med spa
What a Georgia med spa registers for, in order; fees checked October 2026; licensing rows summarize, not advise.
| Item | Where | Fee / due date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Form the entities (owner’s LLC; physician PC if used) | Georgia Secretary of State eCorp | $100 plus $10 service charge, LLC or corporation | SOS fee schedule |
| Annual registration, each entity | Secretary of State eCorp | January 1 to April 1; $50 plus $10 service charge; $25 late penalty | SOS |
| Sales and use tax number | Georgia Tax Center | Online; returns due the 20th, monthly by default | DOR |
| Withholding payroll number | Georgia Tax Center | Online; G-7 quarterly; G-1003 by February 1, 2027 | DOR |
| Unemployment tax account | Georgia Department of Labor | At $1,500 quarterly wages or 20 weeks; 2.70% on first $9,500 (2026) | GDOL |
| Workers’ compensation | Private carrier | Required at 3 or more workers, part-time included | SBWC |
| Net worth tax and income return | DOR, Form 600S or 600 (corporations only) | March 15, 2027 for S corporations; $0 at net worth of $100,000 or less | DOR |
| Occupation tax certificate (local license) | City or county | Annual; E-Verify affidavit, enrollment above 10 employees | O.C.G.A. 36-60-6 |
| Clinical filings | Composite Medical Board | Nurse protocol agreements, PA job descriptions, laser licenses; no facility license exists | GCMB |
Federal items are in our opening checklist.
How we work with Georgia med spas from Tampa
Onboarding is remote: a 20-minute fit call, then read-only access to your bank, processor and POS. We pull exports from Boulevard, Zenoti, Aesthetic Record, Vagaro, Mindbody, Nextech or PatientNow into QuickBooks Online, split revenue by service line and retail, and close the books by the tenth business day. Tampa and Atlanta are both Eastern time, so your whole day is our day.
We file the monthly sales tax returns, Forms G-7 and G-1003, the DOL-4N wage reports, Form 600S or 700 with the net worth tax and any pass-through election, and the federal returns for every entity. You keep the local pieces: your Georgia health-care attorney, Medical Board filings, the occupation tax certificate, workers’ comp, and signing what we prepare. Monthly engagements start at $1,500; see pricing, the med spa service page or request a fit call.
A Georgia example
Illustrative only: a single-location Buckhead practice, a physician-owned S corporation with $1,400,000 of revenue, six employees and $380,000 of net worth on last year’s balance sheet.
- Sales tax. Retail is $160,000 of skincare, sunscreen and devices, all taxable in Georgia: $160,000 × 8.9% = $14,240 collected for the year. Tax on $1,240,000 of treatments: $0.
- Net worth tax. $380,000 falls in the $300,000-to-$500,000 bracket, so the Form 600S due March 15, 2027 carries $250. As an LLC taxed as a partnership it would be $0.
- Income tax. $300,000 of profit reaches the owner’s Form 500 at 4.99%: $14,970. With the pass-through election the S corporation pays the same $14,970 and the owner deducts it federally.
- Unemployment tax. The first injector, paid $85,000, costs 2.70% × $9,500 = $256.50 plus $42 of federal FUTA. All six employees: $1,539 of state tax.