Georgia decriminalises certain economic crimes, liberalises tax code

Georgia’s economic team is working on modifying the country’s Tax and Criminal Codes, with the main goal to decriminalise economic crime and liberalise the tax code in order to further develop the Georgian economy.

Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili stated the decriminalisation of economic offenses was one of the key promises under the economic component of the Government’s four-point reform plan.

In this regard Georgia’s economic team has created a legislative package for amending the Tax and Criminal Codes which was discussed by the Government members at yesterday’s Government meeting.

This package increases the amount for criminal liability from 50,000 to 100,000 GEL. In addition, criminal liability is abolished for tax offenses related to waybills, excise stamps, and others,” said Kvirikashvili.

The package also includes significant incentives for individual sectors, such as aviation, for instance. To this end, we will exempt excise duty aviation fuel intended for domestic flights from the VAT, also exempting different air transportation services,” he added.

Important amendments to #Georgian#TaxCode. Decriminalization of economic offenses is a crucial part of #4pointplanhttps://t.co/8Ll0q4iTlN

— Giorgi Kvirikashvili (@KvirikashviliGi) April 25, 2017

The PM said the amendments seek to boost tourism because domestic aviation is a largely subsidised industry, and special incentives are necessary in this direction to simplify travel as much as possible.

As the Head of Government emphasised, special incentives will be introduced to apply to owners of micro power stations.

We will spare no effort to encourage green energy, so that excess energy generated by individuals' micro power plants may be sold without taxing revenues. As you know, today many countries actively use solar power roof panels, and we want to encourage this practice here. The Ministries of Environment Protection and Energy are coordinating their work in this direction. Besides tax-related incentives, we want to have particular financing mechanisms in place to use innovative micro power stations of this type, especially in our mountainous areas where the protection of cultural heritage is of the utmost importance,” Kvirikashvili said.

Georgia’s economic team has created a legislative package for amending the Tax and Criminal Codes which was discussed by the Government members at yesterday’s Government meeting. Photo by the PM's press office. 

The amendments also involve the construction industry. In particular, the tax incentives period for delayed construction will be extended to two years.

The PM said by the end of 2017, it is planned to complete the construction of sites with a total amount of investments up to $65 million, and said incentives will encourage the resumption of incomplete construction work and this way will meet citizens' expectations and needs.

The PM pointed out that the amendments without exception were developed in close cooperation with the business sector. He also thanked everyone involved in the process of work on the amendments, especially representatives of the private sector and associations.