1 tax document instead of 5: New tax initiative to reduce bureaucracy in Georgia

From January 1, 2019 Georgia will be the first country in which entrepreneurs will be required to present only one tax document, instead of five tax documents, Prime Minister of Georgia Mamuka Bakhtadze announced today while delivering the annual government report. 

• Read the PM’s full annual report with the key economic developments here.

Bakhtadze said that this is an “innovative reform” and it will help to reduce bureaucracy.

Bakhtadze also announced the new tax code that will come into force in Georgia in January 2020. He said that foreign as well as Georgian experts are currently working on the document.

The tax-related initiatives will be implemented in Georgia to support small and medium sized businesses as Bakhtadze believes that overcoming poverty is strongly connected to developing this sector.

Bakhtadze said the tax rates were higher for small companies than for the large companies in Georgia and this was a big barrier for developing SME sector in the country.

So we have initiated the implementation of the VAT Return reform in 2018, we could make the impossible possible. One year ago no one could imagine that we would be able to return over half a billion GEL to our entrepreneurs. This year, by December 31, our entrepreneurs will be returned over half a billion GEL from our budget. In 2018-2020 we plan to return 1.5 billion GEL to our entrepreneurs”, said Bakhtadze.

Bakhtadze highlighted the government’s efforts to make Georgia a regional financial centre and named the new initiative of introducing the electronic residency as an example. This initiative allows citizens of 34 countries to electronically register their companies and open bank accounts in Georgia without visiting the country.

Also from next year another initiative will come into play that will offer unique tax benefits to those large transnational companies which open regional representations in Georgia.

Bakhtadze accented the importance of a new, European-style, customs code that will come into force in Georgia in 2019. Bakhtadze said that the existing customs code failed to respond to current challenges and that is why the government initiated the new customs code.