Tax on all products

I guess I dont' understand how taxes work on here or in an online store in general... i need to apply sales tax to all products.......what the best and most legal way to do this

I guess I dont' understand how taxes work on here or in an online store in general... i need to apply sales tax to all products
This is normally taxed only if the sale is delivered in your State, and not taxed if delivered outside of your State. The basic legal issue that I would be atuned to is that if you collect tax - you do so only as an agent for the taxing authority and if represented as collecting for them these funds are theirs and must be remitted to them.

If US based, and you deliver outside of your state, tax is not required at this time and this is based upon the "delivered to" address.

So how do I set it in the config to charge tax to only people in GA and have it apply to COD, charge and checks?

Most shipping modules have the following with selectors for how you want this applied and you need to establish your Zone & details in Location/Taxes > Zone Definitions > where normally "Florida is set as the default and you need to change this

Shipping module settings:

Tax Basis
On what basis is Shipping Tax calculated. Options are
Shipping - Based on customers Shipping Address
Billing Based on customers Billing address
Store - Based on Store address if Billing/Shipping Zone equals Store zone

easy step by step instructions - https://www.zen-cart.com/tutorials/index.php?article=76