Money and taxes for a foreign property buyer in Georgia

Money and tax for a foreign buyer, on one screen

Georgia's tax rules for a private property owner are short and, for the most part, light. There is no transfer tax when you buy. Rent from a home let to someone who lives in it is taxed at 5%. A home sold after more than two years of ownership is tax-free in Georgia, and one sold sooner is taxed at 5% of the gain. Property tax applies only above a family income threshold. Gifts and inheritances within the close family are exempt. Every one of those sentences comes from a specific article of the Tax Code of Georgia, and every one has conditions that decide whether it applies to you. This guide sets out those articles, the conditions, the deadlines and the paperwork around the money itself: how to pay, how to prove where the money came from, and what your home country may still want to know. It is general information under review by an accountant, not tax advice for your case.

Two principles sit behind the table. First, Georgian tax on Georgian property is due in Georgia whether or not you live there: the place of the property decides the tax, not your passport. Second, Georgian tax is only half of the picture for most foreign owners, because many countries tax their residents on worldwide income and gains. A Georgian exemption can still leave a declaration, and sometimes a tax, at home. Both halves are covered below.

How to organise the money side of a purchase

Most money problems in a Georgian property deal are timing problems: documents asked for after the transfer has been sent, a payment made before the title check, a tax deadline missed because nobody knew it existed. The order below avoids them.

1. Choose the route and the currency

   Decide whether you will pay from an account abroad, from a Georgian account, or in stages to a developer, and in which currency the price is fixed. Ask your bank about limits and fees for an international transfer before the deal, not on the day.

2. Build the source-of-funds file

   Collect documents that show where the money comes from: savings statements, a sale contract for another property, salary records, a loan agreement or an inheritance document. Translate them if they are not in English or Georgian.

3. Tie payment to protection

   Pay only after the title and the contract have been checked, and structure the payment so that money and registration move together. For a developer, tie each instalment to a construction stage written in the contract.

4. Pay bank to bank

   Transfer to the account of the seller named in the contract, with a payment reference that names the contract. Avoid cash and payments to third parties.

5. Register and keep the evidence

   After registration, keep the extract, the contract, the bank confirmations and any currency conversion records together. They are the basis of every future tax calculation.

6. Set up for tax before the first rent

   If you will let the property, find out how you will declare the rent and whether a tenant company will withhold the tax, and diarise the deadlines: income declarations before 1 April, property tax returns by 1 November.

7. Check the home side

   Ask an adviser in your country of residence whether you must declare the foreign property, the rent or a future gain, and how a treaty with Georgia applies.

Paying for the property: currencies, routes and timing

Apartment prices in Georgia are usually quoted in US dollars, while the lari is the currency in which taxes are calculated and paid; the Tax Code requires tax liabilities to be computed in full lari (Article 67(2)). Most foreign buyers therefore deal with at least two currencies, and often three when their own savings are in euros, shekels, dirhams or another currency. The contract should state the currency of the price and, if a conversion is involved, which rate applies and on which date, so that neither side carries an unplanned exchange risk between signing and payment.

The safest payment is a bank transfer to the account of the seller named in the contract, made only after your lawyer has confirmed the title and the contract. The Public Registry's remote Smart Contract service, which can combine payment and registration, can be used only by Georgian citizens who hold a Georgian ID card or passport, so foreign buyers sign in person or through a representative and structure the payment through the bank and the contract. A developer selling off-plan is paid in stages; the stages should follow the construction schedule in the contract, and each payment should be traceable to the contract by its reference.

Two things to avoid are cash and third-party payments. Cash leaves no trace for a later tax calculation, a resale or a residence permit file, and a payment to a manager's or relative's account instead of the seller named in the contract is the classic route to losing money. A bank may also refuse or delay a transfer that does not match the contract, which is one more reason to keep the names, amounts and references consistent from the start.

Source of funds: why the bank asks and what to bring

Georgia's law against money laundering and the financing of terrorism, consolidated on 1 April 2026 and cited in full in the sources below, requires banks, notaries and other obliged entities to identify their clients and monitor transactions. In a property purchase that duty shows up as a question: where does this money come from? The question is routine, it is asked of Georgian and foreign buyers alike, and it is much easier to answer with a prepared file than with a series of emails after the money has already been sent.

A good source-of-funds file is short, consistent and translated. It usually contains some of the following, depending on where the money really came from:

• Savings: bank statements showing the balance built up over time, not just a single large deposit.
• Sale of another asset: the sale contract and the bank record of the proceeds arriving.
• Employment or business income: salary statements, tax returns or company dividend records.
• A loan or a mortgage: the loan agreement and the record of the funds being paid out.
• A gift or inheritance: the gift deed or inheritance document and the transfer from the giver or the estate.

The test a bank applies is whether the story is plausible and the documents agree with each other: names, dates, amounts and accounts. A file that shows the path of the money from its origin to the transfer for the purchase answers most questions at once. The same file is useful later, when you sell and want to move the proceeds abroad, and when a residence permit application or your home tax authority asks how the property was paid for.

Do you need a Georgian bank account?

Not to own property. Ownership depends on a written contract and registration in the Public Registry, not on a local account, and a single purchase payment can go from a bank abroad to the seller's Georgian account. An account becomes useful, and often necessary in practice, once you pay a developer in instalments, receive rent, pay utilities and building contributions, or pay Georgian taxes. Each bank decides on its own clients under its own compliance rules, so requirements differ between banks and can change; a passport and a source-of-funds file are the core of any application. Our bank account service explains how we help with the application and the transfer.

Taxes when you buy

Buying is the lightest moment for tax. There is no separate transfer tax or stamp duty on real estate in Georgia, according to MB Legal's 2026 practice guide for Chambers and Partners. Value added tax at 18% is part of the price only where the seller is registered for VAT and sells in a business capacity, which is common for developers and rare for private sellers; ask a developer in writing whether the price includes VAT. The Public Registry charges GEL 150 to register the transfer in four working days, GEL 270 for one working day or GEL 350 for the same day, and registering a preliminary ownership right on an off-plan apartment is charged at the same standard rates.

The other costs of buying are fees for services rather than taxes: a lawyer, a notary where one is used, a certified translator and, for a residence permit, an accredited valuer. They are agreed case by case. The guide to buying property in Georgia sets out the full purchase.

Tax residence: the 183-day rule in detail

Whether you are a Georgian tax resident matters for property tax, for how your other income is treated and for your home country's view of you. Article 34(2) of the Tax Code makes a natural person a Georgian resident for the whole tax year if they actually stayed in Georgia for 183 days or more in any continuous 12-month period ending in that year. Several details of the article are easy to miss:

• Any part of a day counts as a day (Article 34(5)), so arrival and departure days are both counted.
• Some time abroad counts as time in Georgia: days spent outside Georgia specifically for treatment, leisure, business trips or education are included in the actual stay (Article 34(3)).
• Some time in Georgia does not count: days in Georgia as a diplomat or international organisation employee, in transit between two foreign countries, or for treatment or leisure are excluded (Article 34(4)). A holidaymaker's stay therefore does not build residence.
• Residence can also be granted: to a high net worth individual under rules of the Minister of Finance (Article 34(6)) and, in other cases, to a foreign person under the minister's procedure (Article 34(6.2)).
• Each year stands alone: status is set for each tax period, and days that made you resident in one year are not reused for the next (Article 34(8)).

Tax residence is separate from immigration status. A residence permit does not make you a tax resident, and you can be a tax resident without one. Owning property does neither. Your home country applies its own residence rules at the same time, and where both countries treat you as resident a treaty, if there is one, decides which one prevails.

Property tax while you own

Natural persons pay property tax on real estate they own, including unfinished construction (Article 201(1)(c)). In practice most individual owners are exempt, because Article 206(1)(a) exempts a natural person's taxable property, other than land, when the family's income in the previous year did not exceed GEL 100,000, a threshold raised from GEL 40,000 by a law in force since 30 September 2026. Above it, Article 202(5) sets the annual rate as a share of the property's market value at the end of the year:

The example is arithmetic at the National Bank of Georgia's official rate of 2.624 lari per dollar on 5 August 2026; the real figure depends on the rate within the band that applies, the market value at the year end and the exchange rate. Several rules shape the income test. Family income includes all income, whether or not it is taxed, but excludes property received from family members by inheritance, gift or divorce, and the proceeds of selling a residential apartment held for more than two years (Article 202(6)-(7)). The tax is pro rata for the part of the year you owned the property (Article 202(9)). Individuals file the property tax return by 1 November and pay by 15 November (Article 205(12) and (14)), and land is taxed separately at per-hectare rates set in Article 204.

Inside the band, the councils of Tbilisi and Batumi have both set 0.8%; the details, with land rates and examples, are in our property tax guide.

Tax on rent: 5%, the general rate and withholding

Rent is where most foreign owners first meet the Georgian tax system. The rules depend on what is let, to whom and how the income is treated.

• Homes let for living in: 5%. Article 81(2) taxes the income a natural person receives from renting out residential space for residential purposes, to a company or to a private individual, at 5%, provided the owner makes no deductions from that income. There are no deductions for repairs or management at this rate; the 5% applies to the rent itself.
• Everything else: the general rules. The general personal income tax rate is 20% (Article 81(1)). Rent from commercial premises, or residential rent where the owner chooses to deduct costs, falls outside the 5% rule, and an accountant should set out how it is taxed in your case.
• When the tenant is a company: withholding. If the tenant is an enterprise, an organisation or an entrepreneur, it withholds the tax at source when it pays a non-resident individual, at the rate in Article 81 (Article 134(1)(d1)). The owner receives the rent net of tax.
• When the tenant is a private person: you declare. Income not taxed at source is declared by the owner. PwC reports that individuals file declarations before 1 April for income of the previous calendar year, and that non-residents must file where their Georgian income was not taxed at source.

An example shows the scale. A 55 square metre flat let at Tbilisi's average rent of $9.8 per square metre, as reported by Galt & Taggart for December 2025, earns $6,468 a year. At 2.624 lari per dollar that is GEL 16,972, and 5% of it is about GEL 849. The tax is calculated in lari, so the exchange rate on the relevant dates matters for the amount.

Two further options exist and need advice before use. An entrepreneur natural person can obtain small business status, taxed at 1% of income up to GEL 500,000 a year and 3% above it (Articles 88 to 90); whether and how rental activity can use it depends on the government's rules on excluded activities and income types. And short-term rentals to visitors raise their own questions about which rate applies and whether the activity is a business.

Tax when you sell

The two-year rule is the most valuable provision in the Tax Code for a private owner. Article 82(1)(f.a) exempts from income tax the gain a natural person makes on selling a residential apartment or house, with the land attached to it, owned for more than two years. Before two years, Article 81(3) taxes that gain at 5%, not at the general 20%. For other property, such as commercial premises or land without a home, Article 82(1)(f.c) exempts gains on assets owned for more than two years unless they were used in an economic activity, and the general rules apply otherwise.

A short example: an apartment bought for $100,000 and sold after eighteen months for $110,000 shows a gain of $10,000. At 2.624 lari per dollar that is GEL 26,240, and 5% of it is GEL 1,312. Sold after twenty-five months, the same gain would be exempt in Georgia. In practice the gain is measured in lari and the exchange rates at purchase and sale can change it in either direction, which is a point to settle with the accountant before the sale. PwC reports that, from January 2024, capital gains on property sales are reported by the 15th day of the month after the transaction.

Two practical notes. Keep every record of what the property cost you, including improvements that add to its value, because the gain is the difference between sale and cost. And remember that a Georgian exemption is not a home-country exemption: many countries tax residents on gains abroad, with a credit for any foreign tax paid.

Gifts and inheritance

Property passes between family members free of Georgian income tax in most cases. Article 82(1)(g) exempts property received as a gift or by inheritance by first and second line heirs, and Article 82(4)(c) defines those lines for the purpose: first line heirs are the spouse, children, adopted children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, parents and adoptive parents; second line heirs are brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces and their children. Third and fourth line heirs, meaning grandparents and their parents, uncles and aunts, are exempt on gifts or inheritances up to GEL 150,000 in a tax year (Article 82(1)(i)). Gifts from anyone else are exempt only up to GEL 1,000 a year (Article 82(1)(h)).

The tax position is only one part of a transfer within the family. The Civil Code sets the inheritance rules, including the six-month period to accept an estate and the compulsory share of close relatives, and a gift of property needs a written contract and registration like a sale. If the property supports a residence permit, a gift ends the giver's ownership and with it the permit that depends on it. The guide to property law for foreigners explains the civil law side.

Owning through a company: the tax angle

Some foreign buyers consider holding property through a Georgian or foreign company. The tax rules for companies are different in kind, not just in rate. A company's property tax is up to 1% of the average annual net book value of its taxable property (Article 202(1)), not the family income test that protects most individuals; a non-resident company pays property tax on its property in Georgia (Article 201(1)(b)); and the 5% rate on residential rent and the two-year exemption on the sale of a home are rules for natural persons. A company structure can make sense for several properties or a business, and it also changes the residence permit position, so the decision belongs with an accountant and a lawyer before the purchase.

Your home country and double taxation

Georgia has 58 treaties on the avoidance of double taxation in force, according to the Ministry of Finance. The partners include Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, China, Japan, Korea, India, Singapore and Hong Kong. The United States and Russia do not appear on the ministry's list.

A treaty does two things for a property owner. It confirms that income and gains from immovable property may be taxed in the country where the property is, which is Georgia. And it obliges the country of residence to relieve double taxation, usually by a credit for the Georgian tax or an exemption, according to the treaty's own wording. It does not remove the obligation to declare at home where your home law requires it, and it does not help where there is no treaty. Under Article 125 of the Tax Code, a non-resident who wants to use a treaty privilege in Georgia follows the procedure set there.

The practical step is simple and often skipped: before buying, ask an adviser at home three questions. Must I declare a foreign property? How is foreign rent taxed and credited? How is a foreign gain taxed, including one that is exempt in Georgia? The answers change the net result more than any Georgian rate on this page.

The records to keep, and for how long

A tidy file saves money at every stage, from the first tax return to the final sale. Keep, in one place and with translations:

• The sale contract, the registry extracts before and after registration, and the receipt for the registry fee.
• Bank confirmations of every payment for the purchase, with the exchange rates used.
• The source-of-funds file prepared for the bank.
• Invoices for renovation, furniture and improvements, which may matter for a later gain and for a valuation.
• Every tenancy contract, rent receipt, withholding statement from a company tenant and tax declaration.
• Property tax returns and payment confirmations, if you are not exempt.
• Any document showing your days in Georgia, if tax residence is in question.

Contractual claims relating to immovable property have a six-year limitation period under the Civil Code (Article 129(1)), and a tax authority or a buyer may ask about events years after the fact. Keeping the file for as long as you own the property, and for several years after you sell, is the safe rule.

Seven things buyers believe about tax in Georgia

The owner's tax calendar

Most of the deadlines a private owner meets fall on a handful of dates. Put them in a calendar the year you buy, because the first one usually arrives before anyone reminds you.

Article 68 allows the deadline for an annual income, profit or property tax return to be extended by three months on a written request filed before the deadline, provided the current taxes have been paid; the extension does not move the payment date. A return not filed is, as a rule, treated as filed with zero tax (Article 67(4)), which is not the same as having no tax to pay: a later return for the same period counts as late filing.

Three owners, three tax positions

The holiday owner. A family from abroad buys an apartment in Batumi for summer use and does not let it. They spend six weeks a year in Georgia, on holiday. They are not Georgian tax residents, because holiday days do not count towards the 183 days. They have no rent to declare. Property tax depends on the family income test, which an accountant should apply to their situation. If they sell after three years, the gain is exempt in Georgia, and their home country decides whether it is taxed there.

The landlord abroad. An investor lets a Tbilisi flat on a long lease to a private tenant and never visits. The rent is taxed at 5% if the flat is let for living in and no deductions are claimed, and because the tenant is a private person, the owner declares it before 1 April each year. Had the tenant been a company, the company would have withheld the tax when paying the rent. The owner's home country will usually also expect the rent to be declared, with credit for the Georgian tax under a treaty where one applies.

The quick seller. A buyer pays for an off-plan apartment, takes registration, and sells eighteen months later at a profit. Because the home was owned for less than two years, the gain is taxed at 5% in Georgia and reported by the 15th of the month after the sale. Waiting another six months would have made the gain exempt. The decision to sell early is sometimes right, but it should be taken with the tax in view.

Money, banks and taxes: the detailed guides

Risks and exceptions

• Sending money before the file is ready. A transfer without a source-of-funds file can be held while the bank asks questions.
• Paying a third party. Payments to anyone other than the seller in the contract are hard to trace and easy to lose.
• Assuming the 5% rate. It applies to homes let for living in, without deductions; other lettings follow other rules.
• Selling a few weeks too early. The two-year exemption is counted from the dates in the registry.
• Forgetting the home country. A Georgian exemption can still leave a declaration or tax at home.
• Missing the deadlines. Income declarations before 1 April; property tax return by 1 November and payment by 15 November.
• Losing the records. Without the purchase records, the gain on a sale is hard to prove.
• "Guaranteed" tax outcomes. Tax rules change and depend on your facts; no adviser can guarantee a result.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a tax when I buy property in Georgia?

There is no transfer tax or stamp duty. VAT at 18% is part of the price only where the seller is VAT-registered and selling in business capacity, and the Public Registry charges GEL 150 to 350 to register the purchase.

How is rental income taxed?

Rent from residential space let for residential purposes is taxed at 5% if the owner makes no deductions (Tax Code, Article 81(2)). A company tenant withholds the tax when paying a non-resident; otherwise the owner declares the income. Other lettings follow the general rules.

Do I pay tax when I sell?

Not in Georgia if you sell a home with its land after more than two years of ownership (Article 82(1)(f.a)). Before that, the gain is taxed at 5% (Article 81(3)). Your home country may tax the gain separately.

Do I have to pay property tax?

Only if your family income in the previous year exceeded GEL 100,000 (Article 206(1)(a), as amended on 30 September 2026). The annual rate is then 0.8% to 1% of market value (Article 202(5)).

Does owning property make me a Georgian tax resident?

No. Tax residence depends on 183 days of actual stay in any continuous 12-month period, and days in Georgia for leisure or treatment do not count (Article 34).

Can I give the apartment to my children tax-free?

Yes, for Georgian income tax: gifts and inheritances to first and second line heirs are exempt (Article 82(1)(g)). The gift still needs a written contract and registration, and it ends any residence permit that depends on your ownership.

Does Georgia have a tax treaty with my country?

Georgia has 58 double taxation treaties in force, including with Israel, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Turkey, the UK and most EU states. The United States and Russia do not appear on the Ministry of Finance list.

Do I need a Georgian bank account?

Not to own property. An account is useful for instalments, rent, utilities and taxes, and each bank sets its own requirements under anti-money-laundering rules.

Sources

1. Tax Code of Georgia (Articles 34, 67, 68, 81, 82, 88-90, 125, 134, 154, 201-206), consolidated text with amendments to 1 April 2026, Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 12 October 2026)
2. Georgia: individual, tax administration, PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, last reviewed 2 September 2026 (accessed 12 October 2026)
3. Georgia: individual, income determination, PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, last reviewed 2 September 2026 (accessed 12 October 2026)
4. Georgia: individual, other taxes, PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries (accessed 11 October 2026)
5. Double Taxation Avoidance Treaties, Ministry of Finance of Georgia (accessed 12 October 2026)
6. Law of Georgia on Facilitating the Prevention of Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism, consolidated 1 April 2026, Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 11 October 2026)
7. Civil Code of Georgia (Article 129), consolidated 25 June 2026, Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 11 October 2026)
8. Immovable property registration: fees and terms, National Agency of Public Registry (accessed 11 October 2026)
9. Smart Contract: frequently asked questions, National Agency of Public Registry (accessed 11 October 2026)
10. Real Estate 2026: Georgia, MB Legal for Chambers and Partners, updated 7 May 2026 (accessed 11 October 2026)
11. Lari strengthens in July too, GBC, 4 August 2026, citing official rates of the National Bank of Georgia (accessed 12 October 2026)
12. Galt&Taggart predicts single-digit growth in apartment prices in Tbilisi in 2026, GBC, 22 January 2026 (accessed 12 October 2026)

Change log

• 12 October 2026 - Complete guide published from the Tax Code of Georgia (consolidated to 1 April 2026), PwC tax summaries and the Ministry of Finance treaty list; under review by the partner accountant.