IS THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT IN GEORGIA ATTRACTIVE?
Indeed, Georgia has a very attractive environment for business. Firstly, the bureaucracy level is low. Secondly, Georgia has one of the most attractive tax environments worldwide. Over the last decade, Georgia has undertaken a series of progressive reforms including anti-corruption efforts, reforms of labour and tax codes. Company registration in Georgia is smooth and fast. Georgia has a business-friendly legal system and a high level of privacy.
The Ease of Doing Business Report 2020 of the World Bank ranks Georgia as number 7 out of 190 countries. Georgia ranks even higher than countries like the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Lithuania and others. Below you can see rankings on Doing Business topics in Georgia.

DO I HAVE TO TRAVEL TO GEORGIA?
Georgia has a very business-friendly environment. You can register a new company during 2-3 working days. Also, Georgia has a really convenient location connecting Europe and Asia. There are many flight connections to Tbilisi and Kutaisi. A trip to Tbilisi just for a few days is enough both to register a company and to enjoy Georgian culture.
With the help of our team, you can set up a company just within a 4 days visit to Georgia. We are taking care of the preparation of all documents and all legal tasks. You don´t have to worry about appointments or translations to Georgian.
Moreover, with CMS you can start your business in Georgia completely remotely. Registration of a company can be made through a representative with a Power of Attorney. Within 1 week after we receive your documents your company will be registered and ready to use.
For clients who don´t want to wait or need an already registered company, we provide also existing shelf companies. You can choose from the list of the registered companies a company by the name, type (LLC or JSC), with a status of IT Zone or without and by the year of registration. You can purchase your company completely remotely. And most importantly: You save the time to obtain the IT Zone status.
DO I HAVE TO BE A RESIDENT IN GEORGIA?
Shareholders of a company in Georgia can be residents and non-residents. The reformed and business-friendly system of taxation and registration of a company attracts businessmen and businesswomen from countries all over the world. Do I need a visa to go to Georgia?
Citizens from 94 countries can enter Georgia and stay here a maximum of 360 days, without a visa requirement.
These countries are:
- Commonwealth of Australia
- Republic of Austria
- Republic of Azerbaijan
- Republic of Albania
- United States of America
- Principality of Andorra
- Antigua and Barbuda
- United Arab Emirates
- Argentine Republic
- New Zealand
- Barbados
- Kingdom of Bahrain
- Commonwealth of the Bahamas
- Republic of Belarus
- Kingdom of Belgium
- Belize
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Republic of Botswana
- Federative Republic of Brazil
- Nation of Brunei
- Republic of Bulgaria
- Federal Republic of Germany
- Kingdom of Denmark
- Kingdom of Denmark territories – Faroe Islands, Greenland
- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- British overseas territories – Bermuda, Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, Falkland Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Gibraltar
- British dependent territories – Guernsey, Jersey, Isle of Man
- Commonwealth of Dominica
- Republic of El Salvador
- Republic of Ecuador
- Kingdom of Spain
- Republic of Estonia
- Republic of Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- Japan
- Irish Republic
- Iceland
- State of Israel
- Italian Republic
- Canada
- State of Qatar
- Republic of Cyprus
- Republic of Colombia
- Republic of Korea
- Republic of Costa Rica
- Republic of Latvia
- Republic of Lithuania
- Lebanese Republic
- Principality of Liechtenstein
- Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
- Republic of Mauritius
- Malaysia
- Republic of Malta
- United Mexican States
- Principality of Monaco
- Republic of Moldova
- Montenegro
- Kingdom of the Netherlands
- Kingdom of Netherlands territories – Aruba, the Netherlands Antilles
- Kingdom of Norway
- Sultanate of Oman
- Republic of Panama
- Republic of Poland
- Portuguese Republic
- Republic of Romania
- Russian Federation
- Hellenic Republic (Greece)
- Republic of South Africa
- Republic of San Marino
- Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
- French Republic
- French Republic territories – French Polynesia, New Caledonia
- Republic of Seychelles
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Republic of Serbia
- Republic of Singapore
- Slovak Republic
- Republic of Slovenia
- Republic of Armenia
- Kingdom of Thailand
- Republic of Tajikistan
- Republic of Uzbekistan
- Ukraine
- Hungary
- Republic of Finland
- State of Kuwait
- Kyrgyz Republic
- Republic of Kazakhstan
- Kingdom of Sweden
- Swiss Confederation
- Czech Republic
- Holy See (Vatican City)
- Republic of Croatia
- Republic of Honduras
HOW TO GET A RESIDENCE IN GEORGIA?
Residence permit authorizes the right of a foreign citizen to enter and stay in Georgia or transit the territory of Georgia during the term of validity of residence permit. It also authorizes a holder to invite another foreigner to Georgia.
Georgia issues the following residence permits:
- A work residence permit is issued to persons coming to Georgia for entrepreneurial or labour activities as well as to freelancers. When you start your business in Georgia you can get a residence in Georgia.
- A short-term residence permit is issued to the person and his/her family members who own immovable property (except for agricultural land), with the market price above USD 100 000 equivalent in GEL (Georgian Lari).
HOW TO GET A TAX RESIDENCE IN GEORGIA?
An individual’s liability to income tax in Georgia is determined by residence status for taxation purposes and the source of income derived by the individual.
The tax regime in Georgia is territorial. Residents and non-residents are taxed on their Georgian-sourced income only.
Foreigners can obtain a tax residence in Georgia. The first step is to become resident in Georgia. In a second step, the tax residence status can be obtained with spending more than 183 days in Georgia or as a High Net Worth Individual.
During the current tax year, individuals shall be recognized as a tax resident of Georgia if they were actually present on the territory of Georgia for 183 days or more.
- Georgian Tax Residency for High Net Worth Individuals
For individuals who can not spend 183 days or more in a calendar year in Georgia, there is another way to obtain tax residency. Georgian policymakers introduced a special regime for the granting of Georgian tax residency to high net worth individuals (the “Special Residency Regime”).
For Georgian tax residency purposes, the individual is deemed to be a high net worth individual if:
- (i) the value of his or her confirmed property (worldwide) exceeds GEL 3,000,000 (three million Georgian Lari)
or
- (ii) his or her annual income has exceeded GEL 200,000 (two hundred thousand Georgian Lari) during the last three years (the “High Net Worth Individuals”).
DO I HAVE TO RENT AN OFFICE FOR MY COMPANY IN GEORGIA?
Sure, it is advisable to have your own office. First of all, you will need it for a registered address of your company. We recommend choosing an office located in the business area of Tbilisi. Another important point is to have space for your staff to work in, meeting clients, and of course for receiving mails. Whether you need small or spacious office depends on the size of your company and how fast it grows.
In case if you are not ready yet to own or to rent your own office we have a conclusion for you. CMC provides you with a Virtual Office. The Virtual Office is a service which includes providing an address with a mailbox. You can register your company in Georgia without buying or renting your own office. Our office is located in central Tbilisi. It is a business area close to the Marjanishvili metro (subway) station.
Also, we provide ready-to-use office space in Tbilisi for rent. Your staff can start to work immediately in the office. It is administrated, fully furnished and has all the necessary office equipment.
DO I HAVE TO HIRE STAFF IN GEORGIA?
It depends on your business needs. You can start your business without hired staff and hire people when your business grows. There are no official requirements for the minimum quantity of hired employees in Georgia.
In Georgia, there are many young and motivated people. The younger generation speaks usually English. The Russian and German languages are also quite popular.
There are many specialists in the IT sector, customer support, hospitality, accounting and others. The average salary in Georgia is around 380 USD.
BANKS IN GEORGIA
Opening a personal bank account in Georgia is a simple process. There is a choice of local and international banks providing bank account openings. The account can be in the following currencies: EUR, USD, GBP or GEL. Internet banking and a VISA or Mastercard Card are also provided.
Banks in Georgia provide very high quality and fast services.
List of popular banks in Georgia:
- TBC Bank
- Bank of Georgia
- Liberty Bank
- Tera Bank
- VTB Bank
- Cartu Bank
- Procredit Bank
Based on our experience, Bank of Georgia and TBC Bank offer the most flexible, fast and high-quality service both for local and international customers.
IT BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY SECTOR IN GEORGIA
Georgia is working hard to establish itself as a growing hub for information and communication technology. During the last years, many changes and automatization happened in Georgia.
Georgian and international experts worked together to develop an e-Georgia Development Strategy and turned Georgia into an IT-based governance state. The new e-Georgia improved access to e-services for businesses and citizens strengthened transparent and open governance and defined the role of information technologies in administration reform.
Georgia is strengthening its e-commerce industry in order to stimulate what is quickly becoming one of the world’s most important tools of modern trade. TBC Bank was initiating a new digital trade platform which was launched in Georgia in February 2019. This program provides a platform for small and medium entrepreneurs in Georgia as they will be able to distribute their products to Georgian customers online.
There is a new working space which has been opened in September 2017 at a technological centre named Silicon Valley Tbilisi. It is located in Georgia’s capital - Tbilisi. Silicon Valley Tbilisi itself is the large facility and a learning place for children and tertiary students and also home to satellite offices of several of the world’s leading technology firms. Silicon Valley Tbilisi includes an Information Technology Academy, Business and Technology University, a school, laboratory and research centres and a technological incubator. Head of the Business and Technology University Mikheil Batiashvili said the Silicon Valley Tbilisi was planning to implement "important projects” together with its partners - NASA, NATO, IBM, HP. The planned projects are Georgian artificial intelligence, virtual and advanced reality in education, mega data analytics and visualisation, cyber safety and others.
These new opportunities are important for young people in Georgia to help the country to cement itself on the global map as an innovator country.