Living in Georgia: 183-day residency requirement, 20 % income tax on salaries and 5 % income tax on dividends and interest

In Georgia, Article 34 of the Tax Code defines a resident for the entire tax year as someone who is present for 183 days or more during a continuous 12-month period ending in that year. Two public investment agencies, Invest in Georgia and Enterprise Georgia, publish an income tax rate of 20 % on salaries and 5 % on interest, dividends, and royalties. Invest in Georgia states that property tax is local and cannot exceed 1 %. Enterprise Georgia states that Georgia has no estate tax or wealth tax. This page reports these sources; anything they do not specify is indicated as such.

Resident: 183 days over twelve consecutive months

Article 34 of the Georgian Tax Code, in its English version published by the Legislative Bulletin (Matsne), distinguishes between persons of Georgian nationality, foreign nationality, and stateless persons. It establishes the following rules:

• A person is considered a resident for the entire fiscal year if they have been physically present in Georgia for 183 days or more during a continuous 12-month period ending in that year; persons posted abroad in the Georgian civil service are also included (§ 2);
• any day spent in Georgia counts as a day of stay, regardless of its duration (§ 5);
• A non-resident is any person who is not a resident within the meaning of Article (§ 7);
• Resident or non-resident status is determined for each tax period (§ 8);
• The Minister of Finance may lay down the procedure and conditions under which residence is granted to a person with high assets, defined by reference to the Securities Market Act (§ 6), and, outside the cases provided for, to a foreign person (§ 6²);
• A Georgian citizen whose residence cannot be established in any country is treated as a resident if he applies to the tax authorities (§ 6¹).

Paragraphs 3 and 4 specify the periods included or excluded from the stay, for example, for diplomatic and consular staff or simple transit: these are found in the text. Article 35 deals with the place of residence; when a person has several domiciles, the tax authorities determine their actual place of residence or stay in agreement with them (§ 5).

The English version I read mentions, for Article 34, amendments from 2011, 2017, and 2020, and Law No. 1061 of November 12, 2025, as the last amending law visible in the text. Matsne's list displays consolidated versions up to October 15, 2026; the English translation does not necessarily reflect these.

Income and corporate tax: published rates

Two pages from public agencies give the rates applicable to natural persons. They do not refer to the article of the Code which sets them and do not bear an update date (one displays "2026" in the footer).

According to Invest in Georgia, the corporate income tax rate is 0 % or 15 % and applies only to distributed profits. Enterprise Georgia clarifies that retained or reinvested profits have been exempt since January 2017. Enterprise Georgia adds that the government cannot raise national tax rates, excluding excise duties, without the approval of a national referendum.

Numerical example (fictitious profile): A resident receives GEL 100,000 in gross dividends and GEL 40,000 in gross interest. At the published rate of 5 %, the calculation yields GEL 5,000 and GEL 2,000. This calculation ignores any rules not mentioned on the official pages, including exemptions and conditions specific to each type of income.

Inheritance, wealth and capital gains: what the pages say

Enterprise Georgia states that Georgia has neither inheritance tax nor wealth tax. The same statement also addresses capital gains, but the page provides neither the legal basis, nor the conditions, nor the exceptions: the treatment of capital gains for an individual is not detailed here.

On the French side, the list of tax conventions in the BOFiP (BOI-ANNX-000306, in force on January 1, 2026) classifies the Franco-Georgian convention among the texts concerning income and wealth («IR – IF») and makes no mention of inheritances or gifts.

Real estate: local property tax and annual declaration

The Geneva Revenue Service website (rs.ge) classifies personal property tax as a tax owed by individuals. A notice dated October 2, 2026, announces November 2, 2026, as the deadline for filing the annual property tax return for individuals.

Invest in Georgia specifies that property tax is a local tax, which cannot exceed 1 %. Enterprise Georgia states that property taxes are administered locally, without providing rates. The pages reviewed do not specify the tax base, exemptions, or taxation of rental income or property sales.

The Revenue Service also lists six specific tax statuses: micro-enterprise, small business, fixed-amount taxpayer, fixed-income taxpayer, rental of residential property, and high-mountain village business. Their conditions and rates are not detailed on the pages consulted.

Buying property in Georgia as a foreigner

The Organic Law on Agricultural Land Ownership (Document No. 4848-IIს, adopted on 25/06/2019) stipulates that a foreigner may own agricultural land if it was inherited (Article 4, § 2, a). A Georgian company whose controlling shareholder is foreign or registered abroad may hold such land as part of an investment plan, subject to a decision by the Government (Article 4, § 2, b). Matsne's page does not display a change history.

The Georgian agency SDA (Service Development Agency) links two residence permits to the ownership of a building, excluding agricultural land:

• a short-term security for an asset whose market value exceeds USD 150,000, in GEL equivalent;
• an "investment" title for an asset whose market value exceeds USD 300,000, in GEL equivalent, or for an investment of at least USD 300,000.

The market value is established by a certified expert from an accredited body. The page, modified on September 17, 2026, does not specify the validity period of these securities.

Special statuses

Invest in Georgia describes an international company status reserved for IT companies: corporate tax of 5 %, dividends of 0 %, and income tax of 5 %. It requires at least 98 % of annual revenue in the eligible IT sector and more than two years of operation as a Georgian company. In free industrial zones, exports are exempt from all taxes except the 20 % income tax on salaries.

These statutes apply to businesses, not established individuals. For a natural person, the text of the Code cited above (Article 34, § 6 and 6²) only stipulates that the Minister of Finance may determine the circumstances under which residency is granted; this page does not publish these circumstances.

Coordination with the France-Georgia Convention

The agreement was signed in Paris on March 7, 2007, and entered into force on June 1, 2010, according to the BOFiP (Official Bulletin of Public Finances). In the case of dual residence, Article 4, § 2, applies in this order:

1. the permanent residential home; ;
2. if the person has it in both States, the closest personal and economic ties (center of vital interests);
3. failing that, the usual stay;
4. then nationality; ;
5. Finally, the agreement of the competent authorities.

Article 10, § 2, caps the withholding tax on dividends as follows.

Details can be found on our page dedicated to the convention.

What this page does not cover

It does not detail the tax brackets for each income category, nor the taxes on rental income, property sales, or securities, nor the circumstances under which residency is granted to high-net-worth individuals, nor pension and social security contributions, nor the duration of residency permits. The text of the Code can be found on the Matsne portal, and the relevant authority is the Georgian Revenue Service. Balmont Conseil is neither a law firm nor a local tax advisor: local tax matters should be reviewed with a professional based in Georgia. French matters, including the departure declaration, account declarations, and exit tax, are addressed in our pages on tax residency.

What changes depending on your situation

• Your number of days of presence in Georgia over any continuous twelve-month period, and the relevant fiscal year.
• The nature of your income: salaries, interest, dividends, royalties, rents, sales.
• The property in question: agricultural land or other building, market value, municipality of location.
• Your residency situation in France and Georgia, year by year.

The rule depends on your situation. No results are guaranteed.