Net yield: what a flat keeps from its rent, as a share of its price
Net yield (წმინდა შემოსავლიანობა) is the rent a property actually earns in a year after vacancy, the owner's running costs and tax are taken off, divided by what the property cost or is worth, and expressed as a percentage.
In short: net yield = (rent received - running costs - tax) / purchase price or total investment x 100. Its partner, gross yield, divides the full year's rent by the price and deducts nothing.
No Georgian law, National Bank regulation or statistical standard defines net yield, and the Tax Code (Georgian text on Matsne) never uses the phrase. It regulates only the items between gross and net: Art. 81(2) taxes a landlord letting residential space for living at 5% if they make no deductions from that income, Art. 81(1) sets 20% otherwise, Arts. 202 to 206 set property tax and Art. 309 the fixed short-stay tax.
So every Georgian "net yield" is a private calculation. The bank and National Bank headline yields are gross, and "net" is whatever the author of a figure chose to subtract.
Above and below the line: the items that decide a net figure
The top line is rent collected less the owner's outgoings. The bottom line may be the bare price or all cash spent, including furnishing, VAT and transaction costs.
| Item | Basis or level | Behaviour |
|---|---|---|
| Long-let tax | 5% of rent, Art. 81(2) | Ignores costs |
| Fixed short-stay tax | GEL 10 per m² a month, Art. 309(25)-(26) | Ignores income |
| Property tax | 0.8% of value in Tbilisi and Batumi, Art. 202(5) | Zero if family income was GEL 100,000 or less |
| Building fee | GEL 20 to 40 a month; USD 0.4 to 1.5 per m² serviced | Owed every month |
| Management | 8% to 30% of rent | Highest on nightly lets |
| Platform fee | Airbnb 15.5% for most hosts | Short stays only |
| Vacancy | No official figure | The author's assumption |
The building fee bites hardest in empty months: Art. 21(2) of the Law on Homeowners' Associations says not using a flat does not release its owner from paying. Amounts are in our guides to running costs and property management. Vacancy is the softest input: no official long-let vacancy rate is published for Tbilisi or Batumi, and for nightly lets it is the reverse of the occupancy rate.
Why each Georgian tax route moves net yield differently
Georgia's rent tax routes differ in shape, which decides how net yield reacts to bookings.
- 5% on a long let. Since Art. 81(2) allows no deductions, the tax is a flat slice of gross rent: a landlord with high costs pays the same 5% as one with none. See our guide to rental income tax.
- Fixed short-stay tax. Under Art. 309(24)-(32), extended to 1 January 2028 by Law No 1061, an individual may apply to pay GEL 10 per m² a month on the letting area, for the full year or chosen months. A 35 m² studio owes GEL 4,200 a year whether booked 20% or 80% of nights.
- 20% general rate. Art. 81(1) is the default; we could not confirm whether short stays outside the fixed regime may use 5%.
Whether a landlord may give up the 5% rate and deduct costs at 20% we could not confirm; 20% of (rent - costs) equals 5% of rent only when costs reach 75% of rent. Ask an accountant.
Property tax sits on top. Since Law No 1874 of 30 September 2026, an individual's flat is exempt if the family's income last year did not exceed GEL 100,000 (previously GEL 40,000). Above it, 0.8% of value takes 0.8 points off an 8% gross yield. Details: property tax for individuals.
Published yields in Georgia: almost all gross, a few net estimates
Since August 2024 the National Bank has published a monthly "capitalisation rate": the annualised average rent of a month divided by the average price of that month, from asking prices and rents for typical one-room and three-room flats in Saburtalo and Varketili. Nothing is deducted, so despite the name it is a gross ratio. Galt & Taggart's yields are gross too; its 2Q26 Batumi report calls the figure simply "rental yield" and states no occupancy or deduction.
| Figure | Value | Type |
|---|---|---|
| G&T Tbilisi, July 2026 | 8.5% | Gross, long-let rent |
| G&T Batumi, June 2026 | 7.1% | Gross, AirDNA nightly rates |
| NBG capitalisation rate | Two districts | Gross, asking figures |
| Batumi, February 2026 article | 3% to 4% | Net, no tax listed |
| Same article, if supply grows | 1.5% to 2% | Net, forecast |
| Batumi, June 2026 article | 2% to 3% | Net "real rental returns" |
The net figures come from International Investment, whose 23 February 2026 article says that "after deducting management fees, cleaning, platform commissions, utilities, and vacancy periods, net yields typically amount to 3-4%". It attributes this to its own analysts, not to the TBC Capital report it covers. City and district yields are in our guide to rental yields in Georgia.
Reading "net" on a brochure, statement or report
No official Georgian form has a net yield line; the annual tax return records rent received, which is gross. The word appears on papers written by an interested party:
- Brochures and listings. "Yield up to 12%" or "owner receives 70/30" rarely explains "წმინდა" or "чистая". One advertisement for a Batumi project quoted a "current ROI" of 12.2% as net profit on the investment without saying what was deducted.
- Aparthotel offers. Fixed returns of 7% to 9% for one to three years, owner shares of 60% to 80% after a 25% to 35% operator commission.
- Rental-pool reports. "Net profit" is after the operator's costs but before the owner's tax; see rental pools.
- Platform statements. An Airbnb payout is already net of the host fee; Booking.com invoices commission on top.
- Valuation reports. We could not confirm that any Georgian report states a net yield.
Ask two questions: net of what, and divided by which price, white frame or furnished, with or without VAT and transaction costs?
Worked example: one Batumi studio, let two ways
A 35 m² turnkey studio in Batumi's New Boulevard area. Galt & Taggart's 2Q26 figures give a primary-market turnkey price of USD 1,800 per m² in June 2026 (USD 63,000) and average long-let rent of USD 12.3 per m² a month (USD 5,166 a year). AirROI reports average studio revenue of GEL 7,370 a year (median GEL 5,090; 558 listings, October 2025 to September 2026), or USD 2,837 at the NBG rate of 2.5979 on 20 October 2026; we could not confirm whether that is before or after the host fee. Building fee USD 0.5 per m² a month (USD 210 a year); management 15% long-term, 30% daily, from one Batumi price list. Our arithmetic:
| Case | Income, USD | Deductions, USD | Net yield |
|---|---|---|---|
| Long let, managed, let all year | 5,166 | 5% tax 258; management 775; fee 210 | 6.2% |
| Long let, self-managed | 5,166 | tax 258; fee 210 | 7.5% |
| Long let, managed, one month empty (assumption) | 4,736 | tax 237; management 710; fee 210 | 5.7% |
| Long let, managed, property tax due | 5,166 | as first row plus 0.8% of price, 504 | 5.4% |
| Short stays, 20% tax on revenue | 2,837 | management 851; tax 567; fee 210 | about 1.9% |
| Short stays, fixed tax all year | 2,837 | management 851; GEL 4,200 = 1,617; fee 210 | about 0.3% |
Gross yield is 8.2% long-term and 4.5% for short stays. Short-stay rows omit utilities, cleaning and half of platform fees, billed on top; on the median studio the 20% route nets about 1.2%. The property-tax row uses price in place of market value. International Investment's own sample (USD 59,500) nets about 3% long-term and 2.8% short-term at 43.13% occupancy. Both are illustrations, not forecasts; the 7.1% gross headline says nothing about a given studio. Tbilisi cases are in real rental income.
Net yield beside four look-alike measures
| Term | What it divides | How it differs from net yield |
|---|---|---|
| Gross yield | Full annual rent / price | Nothing deducted; the figure banks and the NBG publish |
| Return on investment | Profit / money put in | May add price growth, include a loan, or use cash invested as the base |
| Capitalisation rate | Internationally: net operating income / value | The NBG's ratio of the same name is gross asking rent / asking price |
| Fixed return | A payment promised by an operator | A contract term for one to five years, not a measure of what the flat earns |
Aparthotel "return on investment" claims often mean projected operating profit on the price, before the owner's tax. Never set an NBG capitalisation rate beside someone's net yield: one deducts nothing, the other whatever its author chose. Years needed to earn back the price are the payback period.
Net yield in Georgian, Russian, Hebrew and Arabic
| Language | Net yield | Gross counterpart |
|---|---|---|
| Georgian | წმინდა შემოსავლიანობა | მთლიანი შემოსავლიანობა |
| English | net yield | gross yield |
| Russian | чистая доходность | валовая доходность |
| Hebrew | תשואה נטו | תשואה ברוטו |
| Arabic | العائد الصافي | العائد الإجمالي |
We found no Georgian statute or NBG text that uses წმინდა შემოსავლიანობა: the Tax Code speaks of deductions (გამოქვითვები) and taxable income (დასაბეგრი შემოსავალი), so in Georgian paperwork the phrase belongs to brochures, management offers and investment articles.
Mistakes that inflate a net yield
- Calling a bank's yield "net". Galt & Taggart's figures deduct nothing.
- Dividing by the white-frame price when finishing and furniture were paid too.
- Counting asking rent or bookings instead of rent collected.
- Leaving tax out, as the February 2026 Batumi estimate does.
- Treating a fixed return as a yield. Batumi market guides say income can fall by 30% to 40% after it ends.
- Assuming the fixed short-stay tax is cheaper. In our studio example it leaves about 0.3%.
To be added by the team: scans the team should add: a developer brochure page, redacted, that quotes a "net" or "ROI" figure, a redacted monthly owner report from a rental-pool operator showing revenue, expenses and net profit, and a screenshot of an Airbnb payout summary next to the booking total for the same stay.
How to work out a net yield on a Georgian flat
Fix the denominator
Price plus finishing, furniture, VAT and transaction costs.
Start from rent collected
Not asking rent, not gross bookings.
Choose the tax route
5% long let, fixed per m², or 20%.
List the running costs
Management, building fee, platform, utilities.
State the empty months
Write the assumption next to the result.
Check the property tax test
Family income above GEL 100,000 or not.
Frequently asked questions
What is net yield on a Georgian property?
Rent received minus vacancy, running costs and tax, divided by the price.
Does Georgian law define net yield?
No. Laws regulate only the costs and taxes involved.
Is Galt & Taggart's rental yield net?
No. Its 8.5% for Tbilisi and 7.1% for Batumi are gross.
Is the NBG capitalisation rate a net yield?
No. It is asking rent over asking price, nothing deducted.
What net yields are quoted for Batumi?
Typically 3% to 4%, possibly falling to 1.5% to 2% (International Investment, February 2026).
How does the 5% rental tax affect net yield?
It always costs 5% of rent, whatever the costs.
Can the fixed short-stay tax wipe out net yield?
Nearly, in a weak year: GEL 10 per m² a month regardless of income.
Does property tax reduce net yield?
Only above GEL 100,000 family income: then 0.8% of value.
Sources
- Tax Code of Georgia, Georgian text (accessed 1 November 2026), and English text, Matsne
- Law No 1061 and Law No 1874 amending the Tax Code, Matsne
- Tbilisi and Batumi council property tax rates, Matsne
- Law on Homeowners' Associations, Matsne, and building fees, Housebook, 28 November 2025
- The National Bank of Georgia starts to publish residential real estate price and rent indices, NBG, 13 August 2024 (accessed 1 November 2026)
- Tbilisi residential market, July 2026 and Batumi residential market, 2Q26, Galt & Taggart
- Batumi housing market: prices rose by 17% in 2025 - TBC Capital report, International Investment, 23 February 2026 (accessed 1 November 2026)
- Batumi housing market: sales growth and risks of oversupply, International Investment, 1 June 2026 (accessed 1 November 2026)
- Batumi Airbnb data, AirROI
- Wehost, Batumi Apartment Management, Gruziaexpert and Tbilisi Home, published management fees, October 2026
- Airbnb service fees, Airbnb, and Understanding our commission, Booking.com
- Passive income from real estate in Batumi, BD Group, and Sector snapshot: Batumi residential real estate, Investor.ge, 20 April 2026
- Real estate investments in Batumi: what truly generates income, Interpressnews, advertisement, 10 April 2025 (accessed 1 November 2026)
Change log
- - Glossary entry published from the Tax Code of Georgia, the Law on Homeowners' Associations, the National Bank of Georgia, Galt & Taggart, International Investment, AirROI, Housebook, Airbnb, Booking.com, published management fee lists, BD Group, Investor.ge and Interpressnews.