Doing Business in Georgia

Pocket Tax Book published by Ministry of Finance

With assistance from the European Union and Ernst & Young LLC, a Georgia Pocket Tax Book was launched at a Media Event by Mr. Kakha Baindurashvili, Minister of Finance and Ambassador Per Eklund, Head of Delegation of the European Commission to Georgia.  With the EU support, Ernst & Young and the Revenue Service have developed this easy to read introduction to the tax laws of Georgia to support decisions of foreign business to invest in Georgia. The information it contains is based on taxation law and practice in force as of December 2008 and covers all the main aspects of the tax system in Georgia. Please click here to see the electronic version of the Pocket Tax Book.

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On 5 February 1999 the Georgian Parliament passed the "Georgian Law on Regulation of Accounting and Reporting." The major principles of the law are as follows:

International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), as promulgated by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), have been translated (2004 Edition), fully adopted, and made mandatory as the only reporting standards in Georgia for a majority of enterprises. Exceptions are small enterprises and noncommercial enterprises, as separate standards are adopted for them by the Accounting Standards Commission under the Georgian Parliament.

The Accounting Standards Commission's functions are: (a) approval of Georgian IFRS (IAS) translations and interpretations for implementation; (b) approval of temporary accounting standards (on those issues currently not covered by IFRS); and (c) approval of a chart-of-accounts structure based on IFRS.

The financial statements (FS) must be prepared by and submitted to:

-          Taxpayers - annual financial statements before 1 April to the relevant tax inspectorate;

-          Accountable Joint Stock Companies and other security issuer companies – interim FS twice per year within 45 days after completion of any 6 months period of a year; and annual FS within 90 days after completion of the a financial year to the Commission of Securities;

-          Banking institutions – annual FS before 1 April to the National Bank of Georgia;

-          Insurance companies - annual FS before 1 April to the Insurance State Supervision Service.