Taxes in Georgia

Georgia tax rates in 2026 at a glance

A quick reference to the Tax Code of Georgia in 2026. Headline rates did not change in 2025 or 2026; amendments covered the special regimes, transfer pricing disclosure and excise.

There is no social security tax and no separate inheritance or gift tax, though gifts and inheritances from outside the close family are taxed as income above exempt thresholds. There is no wealth tax, transfer tax or stamp duty.

The one thing to grasp before you move: the territorial principle does not exempt remote work. Income from work you physically do in Georgia is Georgian-source, even if a foreign employer or client pays for it.

Compare taxes in 146 countries: relocation taxes 2026

Tax residency: 183 days and the high net worth route

Under article 34 of the Tax Code, an individual becomes a Georgian resident for the whole current tax year after actually spending 183 days or more in Georgia in any continuous 12-month period ending in that year. A citizen serving abroad in the Georgian public service is also resident. A residence permit alone does not make you tax resident.

Residency does not start on day 183: once the test is met, it covers the whole tax year. But days cannot be used twice, so staying resident next year takes another 183 days in a period ending in that year.

Residency for the wealthy

Article 34 also lets a high net worth individual become resident without the 183 days. Under Ministry of Finance rules in force since 15 April 2023, three conditions must all be met:

• worldwide assets above $1.2 million (3 million lari), or income above $77,000 (200,000 lari) in each of the previous three years;
• assets in Georgia worth the equivalent of at least $500,000 in lari;
• a Georgian residence permit or citizenship, or at least $9,700 (25,000 lari) of Georgian-source income in the previous year.

The status is confirmed year by year. A tax residency certificate, including one based on the 183-day rule, is requested through your account on rs.ge and issued for a specific year.

Georgian residency does not end residency elsewhere: the country you are leaving applies its own rules. How different countries count days is covered in our guide to tax residency and the 183-day rule. How to obtain a residence permit is covered on the page Georgian residence permit.

Georgia tax residency: how to get it and count the days

Georgia makes you resident with 183 days in any 12 months in a row that end in the current year. Any day in the country counts, however few hours you spent there. The status covers the whole calendar year, and days cannot be used twice: in a new year you collect them again.

A resident pays 20% only on Georgian income; foreign income is not taxed. That is why people seek this residency. There is also a route without 183 days, a status for high-net-worth individuals on application. The status is confirmed by a Revenue Service of Georgia certificate.

Mistakes cost more: your former country rejects a certificate without proof of days, and you pay tax twice. Murblz support removes these risks: we count days, obtain the certificate and prepare it for banks and your former country. We guarantee professional work and a transparent process, and in most cases a result on the first filing.

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Personal income tax: 20% and the territorial principle

There is a single rate of 20% (article 81). There is no progressive scale, no general personal allowance and no deductions for employees. Small reliefs exist only for narrow groups such as single parents and people with disabilities.

Article 82 exempts a resident's income without a Georgian source. But article 104 defines the source: income from employment in Georgia and from services actually rendered in Georgia is Georgian-source. Even services a Georgian resident supplies to a client abroad count as Georgian-source unless the provider has a permanent establishment abroad.

The takeaway: living in Georgia on a salary from a foreign company and paying nothing is not what the Code allows. Nor can the salary be moved into the 1% regime, because article 90 excludes salary income. The 1% applies only to an individual entrepreneur's business income, so the client relationship has to be a services contract, not employment.

An individual entrepreneur on the general regime pays 20% on income less documented expenses, makes four advance payments and files the annual return by 1 April. Losses carry forward for five years but cannot be set against salary.

Pension contributions and take-home pay

Georgia has no social security tax or insurance contributions. Since 2019 there has been a mandatory funded pension paid into the participant's personal account.

Who takes part. As amended in 2023, the Law on Funded Pensions covers Georgian citizens and foreign nationals and stateless persons holding a permanent residence permit. A foreigner on a temporary permit, including a work or information technology permit, is outside the scheme and pays income tax only. Employees who were 40 or older when the law took effect could opt out.

Example: a monthly salary of $1,600 (4,000 lari)

The scheme member loses 864 lari, or 21.6%, from gross pay, but 80 lari of that stays in their pension account, joined by 80 lari from the employer and 60 lari a month on average from the state: about $85 (220 lari) a month in total. For the employer the cost on top of salary is capped at 2%. For a regional comparison see taxes in Armenia.

Profit tax: the Estonian model

Since 1 January 2017 Georgia has used the Estonian model: retained profit is not taxed, and the 15% tax arises only when money leaves the company. The rate applies to the grossed-up amount, meaning the payout is divided by 0.85, so the tax equals roughly 17.65% of the net dividend.

Tax paid on a loan or advance is credited back when the money returns to the company. Returns and payments are monthly, by the 15th. Commercial banks, credit unions, microfinance organisations and professional lenders have paid 20% on annual profit since 1 January 2023 (the Estonian model does not apply to them), and their dividends out of 2023 and later profits are exempt from withholding tax.

Dividends: what reaches the owner

Dividends to an individual or a non-resident bear 5% withholding tax. Dividends between Georgian companies, and onward distribution of dividends from foreign companies outside preferential regimes, are not taxed.

The combined burden is 19.25%, payable only when cash is paid out. Georgia has no controlled foreign company rules and no thin capitalisation rules. A company is resident if it is incorporated under Georgian law or effectively managed from Georgia, which matters if you run a foreign company while living in Tbilisi.

Since 2026, companies with international controlled transactions above $200,000 (500,000 lari) a year disclose them in an appendix to the return. For set-up and banking see company registration in Georgia and a business account with a Georgian bank.

VAT at 18% and the $39,000 threshold

There is one rate of 18% (article 166) and no reduced rates, only exemptions with input tax recovery, as for exports, or without it, as for financial services.

Threshold. You must apply for value added tax registration within 2 business days of your taxable supplies exceeding $39,000 (100,000 lari) over any 12 consecutive calendar months. The tax is due from the very transaction that crosses the threshold. Small business status gives no exemption from this. You can deregister once 12-month turnover is no more than $39,000 (100,000 lari) and a year has passed since registration.

Place of supply. For business customers the place of supply is where the customer is; for private customers it is where the supplier is, except for a list of services, including electronic, advertising, consulting and financial services, where the customer's location decides. So information technology services to a foreign company carry no Georgian value added tax, and since the threshold counts taxable supplies they fall outside it; confirm this against your contracts.

The reverse charge trap. Under article 161, any person established in Georgia, other than an individual without an entrepreneur registration, is a tax agent for reverse-charge value added tax. So an entrepreneur on the 1% regime buying advertising or software from a foreign company must account for 18% value added tax even without registration.

Value added tax returns and payment are monthly, by the 15th of the following month.

The 1% regime, micro business and other special regimes

How the 1% regime really works

First you register as an individual entrepreneur at the House of Justice, then apply separately to the Revenue Service for small business status; without it you pay 20% of profit. Tax residency is not required. The 1% applies to gross income.

• Only Georgian-source business income is covered; salary, dividends, interest, rent and property gains follow the general rules.
• Prohibited activities are set by the government. Under Georgian tax rules they include consulting, legal and notary services, audit, medicine, architecture, financial intermediation, licensed activities, excise production and gambling. If your work is treated as consulting, the status is cancelled from the start of the year and you face a $200 (500 lari) fine.
• You can hire staff, and in the first year of status, or if last year's income was up to $20,000 (50,000 lari), salaries totalling up to $2,400 (6,000 lari) a year are free of withholding.
• Once income passes $200,000 (500,000 lari), the rate is 3% from that month to year end; exceed the cap two years running and the status ends on 1 January.
• Three fines in a year for breaching cash register rules also cost you the status.

What changed in 2026

Ministry of Finance amendments in force since March 2026:

• small business status takes effect from the date of application, not the date the certificate is issued;
• a missed monthly return is no longer deemed a nil return, so file even for months with no income;
• after cancellation, the status can only be regained from the next tax year;
• a micro business losing its status has 15 calendar days to switch to small business status without a gap, otherwise income from the start of the year is taxed at 20%;
• micro business record retention fell from six years to three.

Example: a tech freelancer with foreign clients

A 17-fold gap is why the status gets scrutinised. Tech professionals with small business status can also apply for an information technology residence permit; see Georgia in 2026: residency, the 1% tax and the new rules. When a limited liability company or an international company works better is covered under company formation abroad.

Property, cars, gifts and crypto

There is no separate vehicle tax: passenger cars fall under individual property tax alongside homes, unfinished buildings, yachts and aircraft. The rate depends not on the asset but on family income.

The municipality sets the rate within the band. File by 1 November, pay by 15 November. For small business status holders only 25% of special-regime income counts as family income, and micro business income does not count at all.

Example. For a flat worth $160,000 (400,000 lari), family income of $27,000 (70,000 lari) means $80-310 (200-800 lari) a year, income of $58,000 (150,000 lari) means $1,300-1,600 (3,200-4,000 lari), and prior-year income up to $16,000 (40,000 lari) means no tax.

Land tax is paid by every landowner as of 1 April, whatever their income: 0.24 lari per square metre for non-agricultural land with a coefficient of up to 1.5, and 5 to 100 lari per hectare for farmland. For buying and checking property see real estate in Georgia.

Selling assets

Since 2024, gains on property sold outside a business are reported monthly, by the 15th of the month after the sale. Ownership runs from title registration, and an asset received from a first-line relative carries over their holding period.

Gifts and inheritance

Anything above these thresholds is taxed as ordinary income at 20%.

Crypto and holiday lets

In 2019 the Georgian tax authorities clarified that an individual's income from selling crypto assets is not Georgian-source and is not taxed for a resident, and that exchanging crypto for fiat is outside value added tax. This covers the private investor: mining, being paid in crypto and crypto businesses run through a company follow the general rules. For a country comparison see crypto and relocation.

Long-term residential lettings are taxed at 5% of gross rent. For short-term letting of your own home, until 1 January 2028 you can opt for a fixed tax if turnover stays within $39,000 (100,000 lari) over 12 months and you are not voluntarily registered for value added tax.

We handle the search and checks for a rental property: property in Georgia.

Non-residents, withholding tax and Georgia's tax treaties

A non-resident is taxed only on Georgian-source income. Without a permanent establishment, the payer withholds tax on the gross amount.

A non-resident taxed at source on service fees or other income can file by 1 April of the following year to have the tax recalculated net of expenses. Salary from a foreign employer for up to 30 days of work in Georgia a year is exempt if not borne by a Georgian permanent establishment.

Double tax treaties

In total more than 55 treaties are in force, including with the United Arab Emirates, Cyprus, Turkey, Israel, Germany and the United Kingdom. Among former Soviet states, treaties are in force with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. There is none with Tajikistan and no bilateral treaty with the United States (the United States treats the 1973 Soviet Union treaty as covering Georgia, but it is not on the Georgian Ministry of Finance list of treaties in force). There is no treaty in force with Russia either: one was signed in 1999 but never entered into force, and Georgia does not regard the old Soviet Union tax treaties as applicable.

Georgia's domestic rates on dividends, interest and royalties are already 5%, so treaty rates above 5% do not bite in practice: the lower domestic rate applies. Treaties matter where they offer 0%, for the 10% rate on services and for dual residency; relief requires the recipient's residency certificate.

Filing, deadlines and penalties

Everything is filed online through rs.ge. Individuals can extend the annual deadline by up to three months by notifying the tax authority before 1 April. The statute of limitations is three years.

Where the tax on a return is zero, the late filing penalty does not apply, but from 2026 a missed small business return is no longer deemed filed as a nil return. Bookkeeping and filings can be outsourced: see audit and reporting.

How to legally pay less tax in Georgia in 2026

Georgia taxes income at 20%, but only Georgian income, and for entrepreneurs and companies the law offers regimes with tax from 0% to 5%. Here are the six main legal ways to pay less in 2026.

1. Residency and tax-free foreign income. Anyone who spends 183 days in Georgia in any 12 consecutive months becomes resident for the whole year and pays no tax on foreign dividends, interest, capital gains, foreign pensions or rent. In 2019 the tax authorities ruled that an individual's income from selling crypto is not Georgian-source, so a private resident investor pays no tax on it. Wealthy individuals can become resident without the 183 days if three conditions are all met: assets of more than $1.2 million (3 million lari) or income of more than $77,000 (200,000 lari) in each of the past three years, assets in Georgia of at least $500,000, and a Georgian residence permit or citizenship, or Georgian-source income of at least $9,700 (25,000 lari) for the previous year.
2. A sole trader with small business status. Tax is 1% of turnover of up to $200,000 (500,000 lari) a year with no deduction for expenses, and 3% from the month the limit is exceeded until the end of the year. A freelance programmer with income of $56,000 (144,000 lari) pays $560 (1,440 lari) instead of $9,600 (24,800 lari) under the general regime with expenses of $7,700 (20,000 lari). The status is granted on a separate application to the Revenue Service after registration at the House of Justice, tax residency is not required for it, and services to foreign business clients are not subject to Georgian value added tax.
3. Micro business with 0% tax. An individual with no employees and income of up to $12,000 (30,000 lari) a year pays no income tax at all and files one return a year, by 1 April. If income grows, there are 15 calendar days to switch to small business status without a break.
4. A company under the Estonian model. Profit kept in a Georgian company is not taxed: the 15% tax arises only when it is paid out. A further 5% is withheld from dividends, so from a profit of $39,000 (100,000 lari) the owner receives $32,000 (80,750 lari), a total burden of 19.25%. Dividends between Georgian companies are not taxed, and Georgia has no controlled foreign company rules.
5. An international company and the virtual zone for developers. A company with international company status that develops software and provides information technology services abroad pays 5% when it distributes profit and 5% on salaries, and its dividends are not taxed at source. A virtual zone person pays 0% on profit from supplying the software it has created outside Georgia.
6. Deposits, homes and family gifts. Interest on deposits with licensed Georgian financial institutions is taxed at 0%, and long-term letting of a home at 5% of income instead of 20%. A flat is sold tax-free after two years of ownership, a car after six months, and shares and stakes held outside a business after two years. Gifts and inheritances from a spouse, children, parents, brothers and sisters are not taxed, with no limit.

Which option pays off depends on the kind of work, your clients and where you pay tax now. Our manager calculates your tax burden and chooses a legal structure, and Murblz support sets it up: residency, small business status or a company, and the monthly returns.

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What it means if you are relocating

Georgia is one of the simplest tax systems in the region, but it is often summarised too simply. Where people trip up:

Territorial does not mean remote work is free. Salary from a foreign employer for work done in Georgia is taxed at 20%, self-declared, and the 1% rate does not cover salary.

The 1% is not open to every activity. Consulting, legal, financial and several other services are excluded. An audit looks at what you actually do, not at the activity code.

Monthly returns and value added tax. A small business return is due every month, even a nil one. The $39,000 (100,000 lari) value added tax threshold is tested over any 12 months, and reverse-charge value added tax on foreign services applies to entrepreneurs with no threshold at all.

Check the treaty with your current country. Without a treaty in force, keeping tax residency or an employer there can mean double tax with no credit.

Running a foreign company from Tbilisi. A company effectively managed from Georgia can become Georgian resident for profit tax.

Pension and insurance. Without permanent residence you are outside the pension scheme, and the scheme provides no health or social insurance anyway.

Tax is not the only rule. Since 1 March 2026 a foreigner without permanent residence needs a right to work before taking a job or running a business in Georgia, with exemptions for work aimed solely at foreign markets. See our overview of Georgia's 2026 migration rules and the page on the Georgia digital nomad visa.

Related pages: all Georgia programmes, legal support and taxes by country.

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