Last updated 2026-08-21
TL;DR
Georgia has no single statewide concession trailer license. County environmental health issues your food service permit under Chapter 511-6-1. The Department of Revenue issues the sales tax account. Your city issues the occupation tax certificate. Trailer cost is a market price, never a state fee. Confirm forms, fees, and plan review timing with the county board that will inspect you.
Do you need a license for a concession trailer in Georgia?
Yes. Sell prepared food from a concession trailer in Georgia and you need permits. No single card says concession trailer license on the front. No weekend hobby exception exists once you are in food service.
Georgia writes the food rulebook in Chapter 511-6-1. County boards of health issue the permit and run the inspections. [4] The Department of Public Health does not sit in your parking lot. Environmental health in the county does.
Most people asking this are cooking, holding hot food, or assembling orders on the trailer. That is a mobile food service operation. You need a valid food service permit from the Health Authority before you sell a single plate. Prepackaged candy or sealed drinks can land in a different bucket, sometimes closer to grocery rules. If you have a grill, a well, or a prep sink, plan on the full mobile permit.
Tax paper is separate. Retail sales in Georgia need a sales and use tax account from the Department of Revenue. [6] Cities and counties add an occupation tax certificate, which people still call a business license. The trailer needs title and tag paper. Fire officials want a look at grease-producing equipment.
Here is what I would never do: haul a pretty trailer to a Saturday market with a Venmo sign and a folding table of sauces. That is how you lose the booth fee and open with a bad first conversation with the county.
Georgia county boards of health issue food service permits for mobile units under Chapter 511-6-1, not a single statewide trailer license.
What permits make up a concession trailer license in Georgia?
You stack paper. The stack is the license, even if no one prints it on one card.
At minimum you are looking at a county food service permit for the mobile unit, a Georgia sales and use tax account, a city or county occupation tax certificate, trailer title and registration, and (if you cook with grease-laden vapor) a fire inspection on the hood and suppression system. Many counties also want a written commissary or base-of-operation agreement before they will date-stamp the permit. [3]
The food permit follows Chapter 511-6-1 definitions for food service and mobile units. [1] Entity filings with the Secretary of State are optional in the thin legal sense. You can sell as a sole proprietor. I still file an LLC if there is a partner, an employee, or a trailer loan. Confirm the current Articles of Organization fee on the Corporations how-to guide before you pay. [7]
Here is the map I actually use. Print it. Then call the county, because local boards add forms.
| Paper | Who issues it | Where you confirm |
|---|---|---|
| County food service permit (mobile unit) | County board of health, environmental health | County EH office that will inspect you [4] |
| Sales and use tax account | Georgia Department of Revenue | Georgia Tax Center [6] |
| Occupation tax certificate | City or county revenue office | City hall or county business tax desk [11] |
| LLC or corporation filing | Georgia Secretary of State | eCorp and the LLC how-to guide [7] |
| Trailer title and registration | County tag office under DOR motor vehicle rules | County tag office [14] |
| Fire inspection (hood and suppression) | Local fire marshal | Fire department, using state minimum fire safety standards [12] |
Work north of the state line too? Do not copy this table onto Alabama. Their stack is different. Read concession trailer license in Alabama before you assume a Georgia packet travels.
Who issues the mobile food permit in Georgia?
Your county environmental health office issues it. Not a kiosk in Atlanta. Not a Facebook fixer.
Georgia runs local boards of health under Department of Public Health food service rules. [4] DeKalb, Cobb, Fulton, Gwinnett, Chatham, and the rest each have their own desks, packets, and fee schedules. The desk that reviews your plans is the desk that permits your unit.
You apply where the unit is based, which usually means the county of your commissary and the county that will do plan review. Confirm that with the board. Do not guess from a map app.
Plan review comes first for a new trailer. Counties want a menu, an equipment list, a floor plan that shows sinks and tanks, finish materials, water and wastewater details, and the commissary letter. They will tell you if the three-comp sink is wrong, if you lack a hand sink, or if the hot holding story does not match the menu. Fix the drawing before you weld.
After plans, you build or finish the unit, then you schedule inspections. The permit is not a vibe. It is a document the Health Authority issues after the unit matches the approved plan.
Call the county's food service line, not the clinic appointment line. The person who books flu shots cannot tell you how they staff plan review this month.
How much does a concession trailer cost in Georgia?
The trailer is a market purchase. Georgia does not publish a concession trailer price, and anyone quoting an official state number is making it up.
Used 16 to 20 foot cooking trailers in the Southeast often trade from the high teens into well over $80,000. Condition, hood, fryers, refrigeration, tanks, and whether the fire system still has a current tag drive that spread. I have watched tired snow-cone shells go cheap and turn into money pits once you add a real cook line. New custom builds with a fryer package, freezer, generator, and suppression routinely break $100,000. Some land a lot higher. Get three quotes from shops that already build to Georgia inspections, not from a national ad with a lifestyle photo.
Here is the mistake that costs the most: buying the box first and asking environmental health second. Counties fail layouts. A sink on the wrong wall is an expensive sink.
Build cost is not permit cost. Keep them in different columns. For a feel of how another nearby state talks about the same money problem, concession trailer cost in Alabama is a useful comparison, not a price list for Georgia.
Used units can be smart if the hood, tanks, and power match your menu. A vinyl wrap is not a kitchen. Skip the wrap until the county and the fire marshal have signed off, or you will pay to wrap over new penetrations.
How much do Georgia concession trailer permits actually cost?
County health fees are local. I will not invent a statewide mobile permit price, because the boards set their own schedules and they change.
Call the environmental health office that will inspect you and ask for the current mobile food service plan review fee, permit fee, and late or reinspection fee. Larger metro counties publish food service program pages. Use those as a starting point, then confirm the dollar amount on the phone or the current application.
State paper is more stable, and you still confirm it. Georgia's state sales tax rate is 4 percent, and local sales taxes stack on top of it. [6] You register the sales tax account through the Georgia Tax Center. The Secretary of State publishes LLC filing and annual registration fees on the Corporations how-to guides. In recent years a domestic LLC Articles of Organization filing has been $100 and annual registration has been $50. Confirm both before you pay, because fee schedules move. [7][8]
City occupation tax is a local formula. Atlanta's Office of Revenue runs business occupation tax for the city. Other cities use different brackets. [11] Do not copy an Atlanta number onto a small town.
Fire inspection fees belong to the fire department. Tag and title fees belong to the county tag office. [14]
Budget a buffer. The expensive surprise is rarely the health permit. It is the hood you have to retrofit, the generator that cannot carry the freezer, or a second commissary because your first kitchen will not sign the letter.
How long does a concession trailer take in Georgia?
There is no statewide clock. Anyone selling you a guaranteed Georgia timeline is not the county.
Plan review is the long pole. A busy metro county can sit on drawings for weeks. A smaller county may turn them faster. I have no honest public dataset that names a median day count, and I will not fake one. Ask the board how they are staffing plan review this month. Then add time for their comments, your revisions, the commissary agreement, the fire marshal, tag work, and a pre-opening inspection.
Build time on the trailer is separate. A used unit that already matches the approved plan can move once paper clears. A custom build waits on shops, hood fabricators, and suppression techs. That is not a licensing timeline.
Sales tax registration through the Georgia Tax Center is usually the fast piece if your identity documents are in order. [6] Secretary of State entity filings depend on whether you pay for faster processing. Confirm current turnaround on eCorp. [7] Occupation tax at city hall can be same week or a short wait. None of that substitutes for the health permit.
Still at the idea stage? Walk the whole startup sequence, not only the permit desk. How to start a concession trailer in Alabama is a neighboring-state walkthrough if you also need that paper path. It is not Georgia's calendar.
Do not lease a festival booth on a hope date. Book events after the permit is in your hand, or write a cancellation clause you can live with.
Do you need a commissary for a concession trailer in Georgia?
Plan on a base of operation. Georgia's special food service rules for mobile units are built around a permitted food service establishment or food processing plant as the place you work out of, not a house kitchen. [3] Counties will ask for the commissary name, permit, and a letter.
What the commissary is for, in practice: potable water, wastewater dump, food storage, warewashing that will not fit on the trailer, restock, and a fixed permitted kitchen the inspector can connect you to. Daily return rules and servicing rules live in Chapter 511-6-1. Read the current text and the county handout. Do not take a forum summary as the rule. [1][3]
Can your home kitchen be the commissary? For a full cooking concession trailer, treat that as a no until a county tells you otherwise in writing. Cottage food is a different law for specified low-risk foods sold under that program. A fryer trailer is not cottage food.
Shared commercial kitchens across metro Georgia exist because this requirement is real. Tour one before you sign. Ask whether they have already placed other mobile units with your target county. A cheap kitchen that will not write a letter is not cheap.
If a vendor says you can skip the commissary because the trailer is "self-contained," smile and still call environmental health. Variances, where they exist at all, are board decisions, not marketing copy.
What food manager certificate does Georgia want on a trailer?
Georgia wants a certified food safety manager on the operation, not a random YouTube hygiene clip.
Chapter 511-6-1-.03 covers management and personnel, including the Person in Charge and certified food safety manager requirements. [2] The rule language tracks the accredited-program model. One clean line from that rule reads: "At least one employee that has supervisory and management responsibility and the authority to direct and control food preparation and service shall be a certified food safety manager who has shown proficiency of required information through passing a test that is part of an accredited program." [2]
ServSafe Food Protection Manager is the path most Georgia operators take because it is ANSI-accredited and counties know the card. Other accredited programs can qualify. Confirm the county's accepted list.
A two-hour food handler orientation is not the same credential. Do not send the owner to a handler class and call it done.
The Person in Charge has to be present during operation. If you staff two shifts, plan coverage. The certificate belongs in the trailer with the permit, not in a kitchen drawer at home.
Take the manager course before you spend on wrap and menu boards. If you cannot pass the test, you are not ready to argue time and temperature with an inspector.
Do you need a Georgia sales tax number and Secretary of State filing?
You need the sales tax account if you make retail sales. The LLC is a separate choice.
Register for sales and use tax with the Georgia Department of Revenue through the Georgia Tax Center. [6] Prepared food on a Georgia concession trailer route is taxable retail. The state rate is 4 percent. Local rates stack, and they vary by jurisdiction. Use Revenue's current rate chart when you set your POS. Do not hard-code a number you saw on a blog in 2019.
DOR describes the tax in plain terms. "Sales Tax is imposed on the retail purchase, rental, storage, use or consumption of tangible personal property and specified services in Georgia." [6] Your nachos are not a loophole.
Keep the certificate with you. Events and landlords ask for it. So do inspectors who want to see you are a real business.
On the Secretary of State side, a domestic LLC is created by filing Articles of Organization. [7] Confirm the fee on the how-to guide. Annual registration is a yearly filing with its own fee, published on the annual registration guide. [8] Miss it and the entity slides into a bad status. That will not impress a bank or a city revenue clerk.
Sole proprietors can skip the LLC and still get the sales tax account and occupation tax certificate. If you want a liability wrapper, file the LLC first, then register taxes in the LLC name, then put that name on the health application. Mixing names across forms is how you redo everything.
What fire, tag, and parking rules hit a Georgia concession trailer?
Fire and tags are where a "finished" trailer still fails.
Produce grease-laden vapors and you are in hood and suppression territory. Georgia's State Minimum Fire Safety Standards live in Chapter 120-3-3 and run through the State Fire Marshal's office. Local fire marshals inspect. [12] NFPA 96 is the cooking ventilation standard those rules pull in. A household range hood is not that system. Neither is an open window and a prayer.
Get the suppression cylinder tagged and the hood welded to a drawing the fire inspector will recognize. Then keep the tag current. A yellowed last-service sticker is a festival killer.
Want a publisher checklist of the health and fire-suppression documents counties keep requesting? ConcessionPath sells a $149 one-time Health + Fire-Suppression Kit at /start. It is a checklist, not a permit, and it does not speak to the county for you.
Trailer title and registration run through county tag offices under Department of Revenue motor vehicle rules. [14] The tow vehicle is its own registration and its own Georgia auto liability policy. Events will still ask for a certificate of insurance on the operation, often $1 million. That is a venue contract issue, not a DPH form.
Parking is local. There is no statewide right to sit on a public shoulder with a window open. Cities control rights of way. Private lots need the property owner's permission and often a city location approval. Atlanta occupation tax is only the tax piece. It is not a parking permit for every curb in the city. [11] Confirm with the city that owns the street.
Can you run a Georgia concession trailer in more than one county?
Sometimes. Never assume.
The permit is issued by a Health Authority, which in practice is a county program. [4] Your base county is the one that reviewed the plans and permitted the unit. Other counties may want prior notice, a courtesy inspection, a temporary permit, or a full additional permit if you set up on a regular route. Confirm with every county you will park in, not only the one that cashed your first check.
Festivals sometimes collect a blanket event packet. That packet does not always replace the mobile permit. Read it. Call the host county EH office.
City limits add another layer. A county permit does not waive Atlanta occupation tax, Savannah location rules, or a downtown vendor lottery. Stack the city paper on the county paper.
Route crosses into Alabama? Stop treating it as one South operation. Their board, their fees, their commissary story. Concession trailer board in Alabama and how to start a concession trailer in Arkansas are separate paths if those states are actually on your calendar.
Pick one Georgia metro and get good at it for the first year. Multi-county glory is how people collect half-finished applications.
What paperwork belongs in the trailer on opening day?
If the inspector cannot see it, you do not have it.
Keep the current food service permit posted where the public can view it, which is what the compliance rules expect for food service operations. Keep the certified food safety manager card, the latest inspection report, the commissary agreement, the sales tax certificate, the occupation tax certificate, the trailer registration, and the insurance certificate in one binder that is not under a box of napkins.
Add the approved menu and the plan-review letter. Change the menu from the approved version and you already made a problem. Tacos al pastor are not a hot dog. Tell the county before you tell Instagram.
Water logs, oil collection receipts, and thermometer calibration notes sound fussy until someone asks. I keep a cheap notebook. No two counties want the exact same format. It still saves arguments.
Renewals are local. Health permits renew on the county cycle. Occupation tax renews on the city cycle. Secretary of State annual registration has its own due date. [8] Sales tax returns file on the frequency Revenue assigned you. [6] Put them all on a calendar. For a look at how renewal talk works in a neighboring state (not Georgia's form), see concession trailer renewal in Alabama.
Lost paperwork is not a personality trait. It is a closed window.
What is a waste of money on the Georgia concession trailer path?
Buying the trailer before plan comments. Paying a national "we license you in all 50 states" service that has never stood in a Georgia EH lobby. Wrapping the unit before the fire marshal drills the hood. A 28-foot custom showpiece you cannot staff on a Tuesday. A home-kitchen fight you will lose. Cottage food advice applied to a cook line.
Another waste: copying another state's packet. Concession trailer license in Arkansas is useful if you operate there. It is junk as a Georgia checklist. Same for assuming California or Colorado forms mean anything at a Gwinnett desk. If you need those states later, start with their own guides, such as how to start a concession trailer in Colorado, and still call that state's board.
Spend on sinks, tanks, refrigeration that holds temp, a hood that passes, and a commissary that will pick up the phone. That is the boring list that gets you a permit.
Georgia does not owe you a single-window license. The paper path is county health, Revenue, city tax, tags, and fire. Confirm every variable fee and every processing time with the board that owns it. No one can honestly promise approval.
ConcessionPath is an independent publisher, not a law firm and not a service company. If you still want the checklist kit after you have the county packet in hand, it is at /start.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need a license for a concession trailer in Georgia?
Yes. You need a county food service permit for the mobile unit under Chapter 511-6-1, plus a Georgia sales and use tax account and a local occupation tax certificate. There is no one statewide concession trailer license card. Confirm forms with the county environmental health office that will inspect you.
How much does a concession trailer cost in Georgia?
The state does not set a trailer price. Used 16 to 20 foot cooking units in the Southeast often land from the high teens to over $80,000. New custom builds with fryers, a hood, and suppression commonly break $100,000. Get three shop quotes after county plan comments, not before.
How long does a concession trailer take in Georgia?
There is no statewide processing clock. Plan review, drawing revisions, commissary paperwork, fire inspection, and a pre-opening visit all sit with local offices. Ask your county board for current plan-review timing. Do not book paid events on a promised date from a third party.
Is a food truck permit the same as a concession trailer permit in Georgia?
Usually it is the same mobile food service framework under Chapter 511-6-1. Counties still care about the unit type, equipment, and whether you are a pushcart, trailer, or truck. Apply on the county's current mobile food form. Do not assume a truck checklist matches a trailer layout.
Do I need a commissary in Georgia?
Plan on it. Mobile units are tied to a permitted base of operation in the special food service rules. Counties want a commissary letter. A house kitchen is the wrong fight for a cooking trailer. Tour a shared commercial kitchen that already works with your target county.
Does Georgia require ServSafe for a concession trailer?
Georgia requires a certified food safety manager from an accredited program, with a Person in Charge during operation. ServSafe Food Protection Manager is the usual card counties recognize. Other accredited exams can qualify. A short food handler course is not the manager credential. Confirm accepted programs with the county.
Do I need a permit in every Georgia county I stop in?
Do not assume a single county permit covers the whole state. Your base county issues the primary mobile permit. Other counties may want notice, a temporary permit, or more. Call environmental health in each county on your route before you take deposits for those dates.
Can I use my home kitchen as a commissary in Georgia?
Treat it as no for a full cooking concession trailer unless a county puts a yes in writing. Cottage food rules are a different program for specified low-risk foods. A trailer with a grill or fryer is food service. Budget for a permitted commercial kitchen that will sign the letter.
Is prepared food on a Georgia concession trailer taxable?
Yes. Register a sales and use tax account with the Department of Revenue before you sell. The state sales tax rate is 4 percent, and local taxes stack. Put the certificate in the trailer. Set your POS from Revenue's current rate chart for each stop, not from memory.
Do I need a fire suppression system on a Georgia concession trailer?
If you produce grease-laden vapors, yes, plan on a hood and suppression that the local fire marshal will pass under the state minimum fire safety standards. A residential hood is not enough. Get the system serviced and tagged. Skip this and you fail inspection even with a pretty health sink.
Do I have to form an LLC to run a concession trailer in Georgia?
No. You can operate as a sole proprietor with sales tax and local occupation tax. An LLC is still what I would file if there is a partner, employees, or a loan. File Articles of Organization with the Secretary of State and confirm the current fee on the LLC how-to guide.
What should I keep in the trailer for inspections in Georgia?
The current food service permit, certified food safety manager card, latest inspection, commissary agreement, sales tax certificate, occupation tax certificate, trailer registration, and insurance COI. Add the approved menu. If the inspector has to wait while you dig through a storage bin, you already look sloppy.
Can a nonprofit skip the Georgia health permit for a concession trailer?
Do not skip it on a nonprofit theory. Food service permitting follows the operation, not your tax-exempt letter. Temporary event rules can differ from a year-round mobile unit. Ask the county EH office how they treat your exact setup. Get the answer in writing before you cook.
Sources
- Georgia Secretary of State, Comp. R. & Regs. 511-6-1-.02 Definitions: Chapter 511-6-1 definitions cover food service and mobile food service unit terms used to permit concession trailers
- Georgia Secretary of State, Comp. R. & Regs. 511-6-1-.03 Management and Personnel: Requires a Person in Charge and a certified food safety manager who passed a test from an accredited program
- Georgia Secretary of State, Comp. R. & Regs. 511-6-1-.09 Special Food Service Operations: Special food service operations provisions address mobile food units and base-of-operation practice under the food service chapter
- Georgia Department of Public Health, Food Service program page: DPH food service rules are implemented locally; food service establishments including mobile units are permitted through county programs
- Georgia Department of Revenue, Sales and Use Tax: Georgia imposes sales tax on retail sales of tangible personal property and specified services; retailers register with DOR; state rate is 4 percent with local tax stacked
- Georgia Secretary of State, How-To Guide: Limited Liability Company: Domestic LLCs are created by filing Articles of Organization with the Georgia Secretary of State; current filing fees are published on this guide
- Georgia Secretary of State, How-To Guide: Annual Registrations: Georgia entities must file annual registration with the Secretary of State; the guide publishes the current annual fee
- City of Atlanta, Office of Revenue Business Tax Division: Atlanta issues business occupation tax certificates through the Office of Revenue, separate from county health permits
- Georgia Secretary of State, Comp. R. & Regs. 120-3-3 State Minimum Fire Safety Standards: Georgia's State Minimum Fire Safety Standards govern fire inspection expectations, including commercial cooking protection
- Georgia Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicles: Trailer title and registration are handled under DOR motor vehicle rules through county tag offices