Tbilisi’s sports venues given major tax break

Sporting facilities in Georgia’s capital city are being offered a helping hand through a new initiative that will significantly reduce their tax obligations.

A joint decision by Tbilisi City Hall and Tbilisi City Council noted from today, annual property tax rates for sporting venues in Tbilisi will decrease by 1,000 times.

Specifically, the annual property tax rate has dropped from 1 percent to 0.001 percent and this rate will be maintained until the January 1, 2017, announced Tbilisi Mayor David Narmania.

The tax break was introduced for all private and publically owned sports facilities, such as sport halls, stadiums, swimming pools and more.

Narmania held a press conference at Tbilisi City Council today and announced this decision was directed towards supporting the development of sport in Georgia.

"Sports institutions can already benefit from a tax break. This step is directed towards the development of sports because these facilities usually are not able to generate a profit and if we want to raise a generation that is keen on sports, we should support its development,” he said.

Narmania also noted that the facilities built for the European Youth Olympic Festival 2015 and facilities built in the future will be eligible for the reduced tax initiative.