Published by Bookkeeping.ge — Assio Lex and Associates LLC
Updated
International tax and business in Georgia
Moving to Georgia, working for overseas clients or receiving foreign investment income raises two separate questions: where are you tax resident, and where does the income arise? Bookkeeping.ge helps entrepreneurs, employees and investors connect those answers with their Georgian accounting and tax returns.
Talk to a tax advisor
Tax residency is a yearly assessment
The ordinary Georgian individual tax-residence test uses 183 or more days in any continuous 12-calendar-month period ending in the tax year. This is not simply a count from 1 January to 31 December. The assessment also needs the statutory rules for counting presence and the relevant exceptions.
Prepare a dated travel record and identify the period being tested. Keep arrival and departure information together with evidence explaining longer absences. A residence permit, citizenship or ownership of a Georgian apartment answers a different question from tax residency.
Where special residence procedures may be relevant, examine their requirements separately. A residence certificate should reflect the route actually used and the year for which confirmation is needed.
Foreign customer or foreign-source income?
A Georgian resident individual’s income that is genuinely foreign-source is exempt from Georgian income tax. The important work is classification. Receiving money from an overseas customer or into an overseas bank account does not, by itself, establish that the income is foreign-source.
Services performed in Georgia can create Georgian-source income. Cross-border services supplied by a Georgian resident also require attention to the residence-based source rule and any substantiated foreign permanent establishment. Record where the work takes place, who supplies it and how the business is organised.
| Income or arrangement | Information needed | Accounting action |
|---|---|---|
| Remote work for foreign clients | Residence, work location, contracts and business presence abroad | Classify the service income before choosing the tax return treatment |
| Salary from an overseas employer | Employment terms, days worked in each country and payroll records | Connect income-tax and treaty analysis to payroll and filing obligations |
| Foreign dividends or investment income | Payer, investment documents, income type and tax already withheld | Separate investment receipts from trading or service revenue |
| Income from property abroad | Property location, lease or sale records and foreign tax documents | Maintain a distinct property-income schedule |
| Payments from your own company | Whether the payment is salary, dividend, loan repayment or expense reimbursement | Record the actual legal and economic nature of the payment |
When two countries consider you resident
Relocation does not always end residence in the country you leave. Homes, family, business responsibilities and domestic residence rules may still connect you to another jurisdiction. Begin by establishing the domestic position in both countries for the same tax year.
A relevant double taxation treaty can then help resolve dual residence. The individual tie-breaker commonly considers a permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode and nationality, with a competent-authority procedure where needed. The applicable treaty text determines the sequence and result.
For example, a founder who spends substantial time in Tbilisi but maintains a home and family overseas needs more than a Georgian day count. A useful review records those continuing connections and the treatment adopted by the other country. Read our double taxation treaty guide for the wider framework.
Small Business Status and individual entrepreneurs
Individual Entrepreneur registration and Small Business Status are separate from the personal tax-residence assessment. The business activity, income category and effective status date should be established before applying the preferential tax treatment.
A foreign-client contract can still produce income that belongs in Georgian business records. Equally, a personal investment receipt should not be included in business turnover merely because it reached the same account. Separate business banking and a clear income schedule make recurring reporting easier to manage.
Our seven checks before choosing Georgia’s 1% tax regime explain the activity, income, VAT and growth questions in more detail. IT founders can also compare Small Business Status, Virtual Zone and International Company structures.
Documents for a tax residency and foreign-income review
- A travel calendar covering the relevant year and surrounding 12-month periods.
- Existing tax-residence certificates and correspondence with overseas advisors.
- Employment, client and company agreements showing the activity and parties involved.
- A schedule of each income stream, payer, currency, payment date and work location.
- Bank statements and certificates showing foreign tax paid or withheld.
- Information about homes, family connections and business roles in other countries where dual residence is relevant.
Organise the schedule by income type rather than combining everything into a single “foreign income” total. This lets the review address service revenue, employment, dividends, interest, property and capital transactions on their own terms.
Make the records work for your tax return
Build a year-end file that connects each classification with its supporting documents and the return treatment. Keep exempt income analysis alongside taxable income calculations. An exemption and a filing obligation are separate issues, so the return review should cover both.
For recurring client work, a monthly bookkeeping process is usually easier than reconstructing a year of receipts. Record invoices, payment dates, exchange-rate calculations and changes in work arrangements as they occur. If another country withholds tax, keep its certificate with the related invoice rather than in a separate folder.
Tax residence and 2026 work rules
Tax residence, the source of income and permission to work in Georgia are separate assessments. A work-authorisation exception for certain services to non-residents does not decide the Georgian income-tax result. A business should connect the legal review with its actual contracts and accounting records.
See foreign employees and entrepreneurs: 2026 rules for the current work-authorisation framework and important exceptions.
Tax residency support in Tbilisi, Georgia
Bookkeeping.ge can help organise a residence and income review, prepare the accounting schedules behind a certificate or return, and coordinate Georgian tax questions with your overseas advisor. Assio Lex and Associates LLC combines accounting support with local and international tax advice.
Start by telling us where you have lived, the year concerned and the main types of income you receive. Entrepreneurs who need ongoing bookkeeping can use our individual entrepreneur accounting services; company owners can compare the monthly accounting packages.
Tax residency questions
Is income foreign-source because my client pays from abroad?
No. The work, residence and source rules determine the treatment. The payment’s country and bank account are only part of the evidence.
Does Georgian tax residency automatically end my old residency?
No. The other country applies its own rules. Where both countries claim residence, review the relevant treaty and the evidence for that year.
Should I keep records of exempt income?
Yes. Retain the documents supporting both the source classification and any filing treatment, so the position can be explained consistently.