Can you take the money out of Georgia after selling?
Yes. Georgia has no currency controls and no limit on how much a seller may send abroad, whether the seller is a resident or not. The Ministry of Finance describes the regime as having no restrictions on capital repatriation, on buying or selling foreign currency or on money transfers, and Georgia has accepted the IMF's Article VIII obligations on free current payments since 20 December 1996. What stands between the sale and your account at home is practical: the tax you declare on the sale, the bank's anti-money-laundering checks, the transfer fee and, if the buyer pays in lari, the cost of converting.
This guide follows the money from the signed sale to your account abroad. The tax itself is explained in our guide to capital gains tax on a sale, and the opposite journey, bringing purchase money in, in our guide to transferring money to Georgia.
What the law does and does not require
| Question | Answer | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Limit on the amount sent abroad | None | No currency control in the Organic Law on the National Bank; Ministry of Finance, November 2025 |
| Permission or licence to send | Not needed | IMF Article VIII accepted from 20 December 1996 |
| Tax withheld by the buyer or the notary | No; the seller declares the gain | Tax Code, Articles 80(4), 134 and 154(1) |
| Tax clearance before a transfer | No legal requirement found | Tax Code; bank terms we read |
| Bank checks on the outgoing payment | Yes, for any transfer above GEL 3,000 | AML Law, Article 11(1) |
| Cash carried across the border | Must be declared above GEL 30,000 | Revenue Service customs rules |
The absence of a limit is a real advantage over countries where a foreign seller needs a certificate before a bank will release sale money. It does not mean a bank must send every payment you ask for: a bank can hold or refuse a transfer it cannot explain, and that is where most delays come from.
Settle the tax on the sale before you move the money
Nobody deducts tax from the price for you. Under Article 80 of the Tax Code a non-resident who sells property in Georgia is taxed on the gain, the price less the documented purchase cost, and declares it personally; the sale is carved out of the 10% withholding that applies to other payments to non-residents under Article 134. The list of tax agents in Article 154 contains no buyer of real estate and no notary. In practice:
- Owned for more than 2 years. A flat or house is exempt, and there is nothing to pay.
- Owned for 2 years or less. The gain on a residential flat is taxed at 5%; on other property, such as a commercial unit or, under Public Ruling 143, a hotel room, the rate is 20%.
- Deadline. The return, form II-04-2, and the payment are due by the 15th day of the month after the sale.
The reason to finish this first is enforcement. Once a tax debt is assessed, the Revenue Service can send a collection order to any of your bank accounts except time deposits (Article 243) and can seize assets without a court decision (Article 241). Sale money sitting in a Georgian account is the easiest asset to collect from. A seller who files and pays on time, or confirms that the sale is exempt, removes that risk before the transfer.
To be added by the team: our accountant to confirm whether a non-resident seller with an exempt sale must still file form II-04-2, and how to obtain a certificate of no tax arrears from the Revenue Service portal.
Three ways the buyer's money can reach you
| Route | How it works | Points to weigh |
|---|---|---|
| To your Georgian account | The buyer pays your account in Georgia, and you send the money on | Two transfers and two sets of checks; the Georgian bank already knows you and the sale |
| Directly to your account abroad | The buyer's bank sends a SWIFT payment to your foreign account | One transfer; your home bank asks the questions; the buyer must agree to pay abroad |
| Through escrow or a notary deposit | The money waits with a bank or notary until registration, then is released to you | Protects both sides; costs about 0.2% at banks, minimum GEL 100; release goes to the account named in the agreement |
If you have no Georgian account, the direct route is simplest, but write the full bank details, the currency and the date of payment into the sale contract, and ask for the buyer's payment confirmation before you sign the transfer of ownership at the registry. If you keep a Georgian account, the first route lets you choose the moment to convert and to send.
What the bank asks before the money leaves
Every bank in Georgia applies customer due diligence to wire transfers above GEL 3,000 and may ask where the money comes from and where it is going. For sale proceeds the answer is simple if you can show the paper trail. Keep these ready, in a form you can send by email:
- The sale contract, signed and, if used, notarised.
- A Public Registry extract showing the buyer as the new owner.
- The statement line showing the buyer's payment arriving.
- Your tax return and payment receipt, or a note explaining why the sale was exempt.
- The details of your own account abroad, in your name.
- If the money goes to someone else, such as a family member, the reason in writing.
Payments to your own account in a mainstream country rarely raise more than a question or two. Payments to a third party, split into many smaller amounts or sent to a jurisdiction on the National Bank's high-risk list attract more scrutiny, and banks report transfers above GEL 50,000 linked to such jurisdictions. The legal reasons for these questions are covered in our guide to source of funds checks.
Russia, Belarus, Iran and other sensitive destinations
Georgian banks follow the financial sanctions of the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom against Russia and Belarus, as the National Bank confirmed in 2022 and again in 2024. In practice this means:
- Banks will not send money to sanctioned banks or people, and intermediary banks abroad may stop a payment for their own checks.
- ProCredit Bank announced enhanced checks from 2 September 2024 for transfers involving Russia, Belarus and Iran, and states that a transfer is not executed if the requested documents are missing.
- TBC Bank and Bank of Georgia stopped working with the Unistream transfer system in July 2023 after US sanctions on it.
We found no official list of the countries or banks each Georgian bank refuses, so ask your bank before the sale which route it will accept, and expect to show the full paper trail above. Sending to an account in a third country that is not your own, in order to reach a sanctioned destination, is exactly the pattern banks are told to stop.
What a transfer abroad costs
| Bank | Published fee | On USD 200,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Liberty Bank | USD 10 flat, plus USD 20 for a full-amount transfer | USD 10 to 30 |
| Halyk Bank | 0.2%, minimum USD 10, maximum USD 100 | USD 100 |
| TBC Bank | 0.2%, minimum USD 15, maximum USD 150 | USD 150 |
| Terabank | 0.2%, minimum 15, maximum 500 | USD 400 |
| Silk Bank | 0.2%, minimum USD 90, maximum USD 400 | USD 400 |
| Bank of Georgia | 0.2%, minimum USD 15, maximum USD 500 (secondary source) | USD 400 |
The bank's own fee is only part of the cost. A standard payment is sent with shared charges, so a correspondent bank in New York or Frankfurt may deduct USD 10 to 20 on the way. Georgian banks sell a full-amount option, the international OUR instruction, for a surcharge; use it when the receiving account must see the exact sum, for example to close a mortgage at home. Tariffs change, and different sources showed different figures for the same bank, so check the price on the day.
Dollars or lari: where conversion costs money
If the buyer pays in lari and you want dollars or euros, the bank converts at its commercial rate, not the official one. On 20 October 2026 the National Bank's official rate was 2.5979 lari per dollar, while Bank of Georgia sold dollars at 2.629, about 1.2% more. On a price of USD 200,000 paid as GEL 519,580 at the official rate, buying dollars back at 2.629 gives USD 197,634, a loss of about USD 2,400 before any fee.
No rule obliges a private seller to convert foreign-currency proceeds into lari. The cheaper path is usually to agree the price in dollars and have the buyer pay in dollars, a choice our guide to paying in dollars or lari discusses from the buyer's side. If you must convert a large amount, ask the bank for a negotiated rate before you instruct it; we found no published preferential rates for large sums.
Limits in the app and at the branch
The law sets no ceiling, but banks set operational limits in their apps. Liberty Bank's terms, for example, cap transfers by mobile or personal number at GEL 5,000 per transaction and GEL 10,000 a day, and card-to-card transfers at GEL 5,000 a day, and let the bank refuse a digital order above its daily limit. We could not find published limits for international transfers in the TBC and Bank of Georgia apps. For a six-figure sum, plan for an instruction at the branch or a call to raise the limit, and do it on a working day early in the week, so the payment does not sit over a weekend.
Why carrying cash out is a poor idea
Cash, cheques and securities worth more than GEL 30,000 must be declared at the Georgian border when you leave, as when you arrive. In August 2025 customs confiscated USD 19,100 that a traveller had not declared at the Sarpi crossing. A declaration makes the export legal, but you then have to explain the cash at the other border, where the European Union requires a declaration from EUR 10,000, and your home bank will ask where it came from before accepting it. A bank transfer leaves the paper trail you will need anyway.
Wise and money transfer services
Online services are built for smaller, regular payments. Wise lets residents of Georgia hold money and can send from a lari balance up to GEL 2.6 million per transfer, but its own help pages state that lari cannot be added from a bank account, only converted from another currency held in Wise. Western Union says customers can usually send any amount but may be asked for documents, and money transfer systems typically cost more than a bank transfer once the exchange margin is included. For the proceeds of a sale, a SWIFT transfer from a Georgian bank or a direct payment from the buyer abroad remains the realistic channel.
Reporting the money in your home country
Moving the money is not the end of the paperwork. Georgian banks report the accounts of tax residents of partner countries under the OECD Common Reporting Standard, introduced by Article 70-2 of the Tax Code in December 2022, with reports due by 30 June of the following year, so a balance left in Georgia is likely to be visible at home. Some examples of home rules:
- United States. US persons report foreign accounts on FinCEN Form 114 once the total exceeds USD 10,000 at any time in the year, and on Form 8938 above higher thresholds, such as USD 200,000 at year end for a single filer living abroad.
- United Kingdom. UK residents are normally taxed on foreign income and gains and report a sale abroad through Self Assessment.
- Credit for Georgian tax. Where Georgia has a treaty with your country, tax paid in Georgia is normally credited; see our list of double taxation treaties.
Getting the money home, step by step
Ask your bank early
Before signing, ask which documents and route it accepts for an outgoing transfer of this size.
Fix the currency and account in the contract
Name the currency, the account and the payment date.
Receive and register
Confirm the payment and get the registry extract in the buyer's name.
File or confirm the tax
Submit form II-04-2 by the 15th of the next month, or note why the sale is exempt.
Send in one transfer
To your own account, with the documents attached and the fee option chosen.
Keep the file
Contract, extract, statements and tax papers, for your home tax return.
Risks and exceptions
- An unpaid tax return. An assessed debt can be collected straight from your account.
- Conversion losses. About 1.2% at standard commercial rates if lari must become dollars.
- Held transfers. Missing documents can stop a payment for days.
- Sanctions screening. Some destinations and banks will be refused.
- Undeclared cash. Confiscation at the border.
- Home reporting. Account and gain reporting rules apply even when Georgia charges no tax.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a limit on transferring money out of Georgia?
No. Georgia has no currency controls; banks only check the transfer.
Does the buyer withhold tax from the price?
No. A non-resident seller declares and pays any tax personally.
Do I need a tax certificate to send the money?
We found no such legal requirement, but file and pay first to avoid collection from your account.
How long does a transfer take?
Usually 1 to 4 working days by SWIFT, longer if a bank asks for documents.
Can the buyer pay me directly abroad?
Yes, if both sides agree and the contract names the account.
What does a transfer of USD 200,000 cost?
From USD 10 to 400 in bank fees, plus any correspondent charge.
Can I take the money out in cash?
Only with a declaration above GEL 30,000, and it is rarely sensible.
Can I send money to Russia?
Not to sanctioned banks; expect enhanced checks and possible refusal.
Sources
- Economic Outlook for Georgia, Ministry of Finance of Georgia, November 2025 (accessed 20 October 2026)
- Georgia accepts Article VIII obligations, International Monetary Fund, January 1997 (accessed 20 October 2026)
- Tax Code of Georgia, Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 20 October 2026)
- Law of Georgia on Facilitating the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing, Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 20 October 2026)
- Statement on international sanctions and transfers, National Bank of Georgia, 20 July 2022 (accessed 20 October 2026)
- International money transfers, ProCredit Bank Georgia, 19 August 2024 (accessed 20 October 2026)
- Georgian banks suspend Unistream operations, Interfax, 24 July 2023 (accessed 20 October 2026)
- Tariff comparison tool, National Bank of Georgia (accessed 20 October 2026)
- Banking service terms and conditions for individuals, Liberty Bank, 7 February 2025 (accessed 20 October 2026)
- Best banks for expats in Georgia, Expatden, August 2026 (accessed 20 October 2026)
- Official exchange rates, National Bank of Georgia (accessed 20 October 2026)
- What we must know when crossing the customs borders of Georgia, Revenue Service of Georgia (accessed 20 October 2026)
- Customs seizes undeclared cash at Sarpi, Georgia Today, 29 August 2025 (accessed 20 October 2026)
- Regulation (EU) 2018/1672 on controls on cash entering or leaving the Union, EUR-Lex (accessed 20 October 2026)
- Guide to GEL transfers, Wise (accessed 20 October 2026)
- Sending money: frequently asked questions, Western Union Georgia (accessed 20 October 2026)
- Comparison of Form 8938 and FBAR requirements, Internal Revenue Service (accessed 20 October 2026)
- Tax on foreign income, GOV.UK (accessed 20 October 2026)
Change log
- - Guide published from the Tax Code, the money laundering law, Ministry of Finance and IMF statements, bank tariffs and Revenue Service customs rules.