Property tax: the one local tax, charged for owning, not for buying
Property tax (ქონების გადასახადი) is the yearly local tax on owning buildings, flats, unfinished construction, yachts, aircraft, passenger cars and, separately, land: buildings pay 0.8% to 1% of market value unless the owner's family income in the previous year did not exceed GEL 100,000, while land pays a fixed lari amount per area with no income test.
The legal basis is the Tax Code of Georgia, Arts. 201 to 206, in publication 247 of 15 October 2026. Art. 6(5) lists the national taxes: income tax, profit tax, VAT, excise and import tax. Art. 6(6) names one local tax only, property tax. Under Art. 6(4) a local tax is "established by this Code and introduced by a normative act of the municipal representative body", the საკრებულო (Sakrebulo), within limit rates, and is paid inside that municipality. The Code fixes the frame; each council picks the rate.
Two habits from abroad mislead here. This is not a tax on buying: Georgia has no transfer tax or stamp duty. Nor is it charged to whoever lives in the flat: the payer is the owner, the base is value, and families at or below the income threshold pay nothing on buildings. Our guide to money and taxes for a foreign buyer places it among the other taxes, and property tax for individual owners gives the yearly routine.
One tax, two objects: buildings and other property, and land
Arts. 203 and 204 are titled მიწაზე ქონების გადასახადი, "property tax on land". The everyday "land tax" is legally the land part of the same tax, with its own payer, date and base.
| Feature | Buildings, flats and other property | Land |
|---|---|---|
| Who pays | Owner, pro rata by months (Art. 202(9)) | Holder on 1 April (Art. 203) |
| Base | Market value at the end of the preceding year | Area in m² or hectares |
| Rate | 0.8% to 1% | Fixed GEL per area |
| Income test | Yes, GEL 100,000 (Art. 206(1)(a)) | None: "except land" |
| Rate date | 31 December (Art. 202(8)) | 1 April (Art. 204(4)) |
Art. 201(1) reaches beyond real estate "including unfinished construction, a building or part of it": it adds yachts, helicopters, aeroplanes, HS 8703 passenger cars, property leased from a non-resident and a business person's fixed assets. Whoever uses property still registered to a deceased person pays, unless a lease, rent or usufruct contract covers the use (Art. 201(2)). Use does not change the rule: a let flat and a hotel unit face the same test, and rent matters only as family income.
What the city councils decide: Tbilisi Resolution 18-76 and Batumi Resolution No 2
Law No 1874 of 30 September 2026 raised the Code's exemption from GEL 40,000 to GEL 100,000 and abolished the 0.05% to 0.2% band. Tbilisi then adopted Resolution No 18-76 of 16 October 2026, which rewrote paragraph 2(d) of Resolution No 20-90 of 30 December 2014: one rate, 0.8% of market value "for families with income of GEL 100,000 and/or more", applied also to the tax declared in 2026. Batumi Resolution No 2 of 31 January 2011, last amended on 25 November 2024, sets 0.8% in its first published text (we could not read the current consolidation); its 0.2% line for lower incomes has nothing left to tax.
| Land | Rule or rate |
|---|---|
| Non-agricultural land, Code base | GEL 0.24 per m² a year, times a council coefficient of at most 1.5 |
| Arable land, Code base | GEL 100 per ha in Tbilisi outside its villages, GEL 94 in Batumi, lowest GEL 56; councils may go to 150% |
| Tbilisi, non-agricultural | GEL 0.24 to 0.36 per m² |
| Batumi, non-agricultural | GEL 0.31 / 0.24 / 0.17 per m² by zone |
In the 2015 Tbilisi text, coefficient 1.5 covers Vera, most of Mtatsminda-Sololaki, Vake-Bagebi and Lower Chughureti; we could not confirm the current zones. The land part rarely reaches a flat owner: Art. 206(1) (Georgian sub-paragraph ჰ1) exempts a multi-unit resident's share of the plot. In their first published texts, Tbilisi frees the whole plot of a house and Batumi frees house land up to 600 m² non-agricultural.
The family-income test and the 15th-of-the-month rule
Art. 206(1)(a) looks at the family, not the flat: property other than land is exempt "if the income received by this person's family during the year preceding the current calendar year does not exceed GEL 100,000". Exactly GEL 100,000 is still exempt. Art. 202(6) counts all income "without taking tax privileges into account": salary, business and non-business income, and for a small-business person 25% of the income taxed under the special regime.
Art. 202(7)(a) leaves out property received from family members by inheritance, gift or divorce, proceeds of a home owned more than 2 years, fixed-tax and micro-business income, and some charity benefits. Art. 202(7)(b) limits a non-resident Georgian citizen's count to Georgian-source income. For a non-resident who is not a Georgian citizen the Code is silent, and we could not confirm the Revenue Service's approach; ask an accountant before ticking the box.
Part-year ownership is taxed pro rata (Art. 202(9)). The tax administration Instruction approved by Finance Minister Order No 996, Art. 91(7), counts a month in full if you owned the object on its 15th; if ownership passes on the 15th, the month goes to the recipient. Register on the 14th and the month is yours; register on the 16th and it is the seller's.
On paper: form V-03, the annual property tax return
Form No V-03, ფიზიკური პირის ქონების გადასახადის წლიური დეკლარაცია, is set by Instruction 996, Arts. 90 and 91. Part III lists family members on a joint family return and carries a tick box: family income "does not exceed GEL 100,000" or "exceeds GEL 100,000". Part IV covers land as at 1 April: type, municipality, area, privilege and the area without one.
| Column | Content | Filled in by |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Type: house, dacha, garage, unfinished construction, yacht, HS 8703 car and so on | Owner |
| 3 | Municipality | Owner |
| 4 | დასაბეგრი ქონების საბაზრო ღირებულება (ლარი), market value in GEL | Owner |
| 5 and 6 | Privilege, and value after the privilege | Owner |
| 7 | Months owned, under the 15th-of-the-month rule | Owner |
| 8 and 9 | Rate in % and tax in GEL | Tax authority |
So the owner states value and months, and the authority applies the council's rate (Art. 205(11)). No rule we found requires a valuation behind column 4; see market value.
Art. 205 sets the calendar: return by 1 November, payment by 15 November. With no tax due there is no return, but a past filer must notify the authority on form V-04 by 1 November (Art. 205(13)(a); Instruction 996, Art. 92). Without the notice, last year's amount is charged as a tax demand (Art. 205(13)(b)). A late return costs 5% of the tax within 2 months and 10% after, nothing if the tax is zero (Art. 274).
Elsewhere the tax barely appears. No property tax is charged on a purchase, and we found no standard contract clause splitting the year between seller and buyer. The registry extract shows no tax status, only a registered tax lien among encumbrances, which can pass to the next owner if not cancelled (Art. 239(5)).
Worked example: the 2026 return for a flat bought in March 2025
Inputs are illustrative; rates and rules are sourced. A family registers a Tbilisi flat on 10 March 2025, enters GEL 300,000 in column 4 as at 31 December 2025, and ticks "exceeds GEL 100,000" because its 2025 income was GEL 120,000.
| Step | Figure |
|---|---|
| Full year at Tbilisi's 0.8% | GEL 2,400 |
| Months: owned on 15 March, so March to December | 10 |
| Tax for 2025: 2,400 x 10 / 12 | GEL 2,000 |
| Land share under the flat | GEL 0 |
Payment falls due by 15 November 2026. With 2025 income of exactly GEL 100,000 the flat line would be exempt. A bare 1,000 m² plot in Vake-Bagebi, at the 2015 coefficient of 1.5, would add GEL 0.36 x 1,000 = GEL 360 whatever the family earns; in Batumi's central zone (2011 text), GEL 0.31 x 1,000 = GEL 310. More cases are in our owner's guide.
Easily confused: land tax, income taxes, transfer tax and occupier rates
| Term | How it differs from property tax on buildings |
|---|---|
| "Land tax" | The land part of the same tax: fixed rate per area, no income test |
| Income tax on a sale or rent | Taxes a gain or rent, not owning; rent counts in family income |
| Transfer tax | Georgia has none; buyers pay registration and notary fees |
| Company property tax | Up to 1% of average annual net book value |
See capital gains tax, rental income tax and company-owned property. Israeli readers may think of ארנונה; that is our analogy, not a Georgian one. Georgian property tax falls on the owner, on value, above an income threshold, and waste charges are billed apart (utilities for a new owner).
Property tax in five languages
| Language | Property tax | Land part |
|---|---|---|
| Georgian | ქონების გადასახადი | მიწაზე ქონების გადასახადი (colloquial: მიწის გადასახადი) |
| English | property tax | property tax on land (land tax) |
| Russian | налог на имущество | налог на имущество на землю (everyday: земельный налог) |
| Hebrew | מס רכוש | no fixed form on this site |
| Arabic | ضريبة العقار | ضريبة الأرض |
The Code, council resolutions and form V-03 write ქონების გადასახადი, the form to expect in any Georgian contract that names the tax.
Common mistakes and warning signs
- Old rate tables. 0.05% to 0.2% or GEL 40,000 predate Law No 1874.
- Land under the income test. An exempt family still owes on a plot without a privilege.
- No notice. A silent past filer is charged last year's amount.
- One salary only. The test adds up the whole family's income.
- "No property tax" in a brochure. True only below the threshold, never for land.
To be added by the team: scans for the team to add: a blank form V-03 with the Part III income tick box and Part V columns 4 and 7 marked; a redacted completed return with the tax authority's rate and tax columns; a screenshot of the Tbilisi Resolution No 18-76 page on matsne.
Working out your property tax position step by step
Add up family income
Use the year before the return, with the Art. 202(7) exclusions.
Compare with GEL 100,000
At or below it, buildings are exempt.
Check the land part
Is there a plot without a privilege on 1 April?
Count the months
Ownership on the 15th decides each month.
File or notify by 1 November
Form V-03, or notice form V-04 if you filed last year.
Pay by 15 November
Property and land together.
Frequently asked questions
Is property tax a national or a local tax in Georgia?
Local: the only one named in Tax Code Art. 6(6).
What rate does Tbilisi charge on a flat?
0.8% of market value above the income threshold (Resolution No 18-76).
Who is exempt?
Families whose previous-year income did not exceed GEL 100,000, for property other than land.
Does the exemption cover land?
No, though a flat's share of the plot is exempt.
When is the return due?
By 1 November, on form V-03, with payment by 15 November (Art. 205).
Who decides the market value on the return?
The owner enters it in Part V, column 4; the tax authority applies the rate.
Do I pay property tax when I buy?
No. It is charged for owning; for a flat, from the first month you own it on the 15th.
Is a holiday or rented flat taxed differently?
No, but rent counts in family income.
Sources
- Tax Code of Georgia, consolidated publication 247 of 15 October 2026, Arts. 6 and 201 to 206 (accessed 2 November 2026)
- Tax Code of Georgia, Art. 239 (tax lien) and Art. 274 (late return)
- Tax Code of Georgia, publication 245 of 25 June 2026, the wording before Law No 1874
- Law No 1874 of 30 September 2026 amending the Tax Code (accessed 2 November 2026)
- Tbilisi City Assembly Resolution No 20-90 of 30 December 2014, first published version
- Tbilisi City Assembly Resolution No 18-76 of 16 October 2026 (accessed 2 November 2026)
- Batumi City Council Resolution No 2 of 31 January 2011, first published version
- Minister of Finance Order No 996, Instruction on tax administration, consolidated text as amended to 9 October 2026 (Order No 332 of 26 October 2026 does not touch these articles), Arts. 90 to 92, forms V-03 and V-04 (accessed 2 November 2026)
Change log
- - Glossary entry published from the Tax Code of Georgia, Law No 1874 of 30 September 2026, Tbilisi City Assembly Resolutions No 20-90 and No 18-76, Batumi City Council Resolution No 2 and Minister of Finance Order No 996.