Reasons to be self-employed in Georgia
Georgia is one of the most open countries with one of the most liberalized economies in the world. The Caucasus country is open to immigration, entrepreneurs, foreign businessmen to whom it offers significant tax benefits. Therefore, Georgia attracts a large part of the world’s entrepreneurs such as freelancers, digital nomads and freelancers with internet businesses.
In addition, if you register as self-employed and reach a turnover of 50,000 GEL (approximately 14,500 euros) you have the possibility to obtain tax residency in Georgia. To this must be added the obligation to stay in the Georgian territory for at least 183 days a year.
I also tell you that Georgia is one of the countries with the best scenery in the world, good food and a good atmosphere, as well as a low purchasing power, so living in this country will be good and cheap.
Now you may ask: but how can I become self-employed?
How to register as Sole Proprietorship
The process is very simple; you have to go through almost the same process as in case of company registration in Georgia. Registration as a self-employed person should be done in the National Agency of Public Registration by providing the following documentation:
- The application form;
- Identification document (passport)
- Proof of payment of the fee. The registration fee for one working day is 50 GEL (15 euros) and 20 GEL (6 euros) for two working days.
- When you register as self-employed, the address where you are registered becomes your fiscal address, although at that time you will probably not be registered in Georgia so you need to provide the consent of the owner of a property.
Tax benefits of Sole Proprietorship
First of all, and what will make your day is that in Georgia you only pay taxes on profits generated in your own country and if your income comes from abroad you pay nothing, 0% tax on profits coming from other countries. This is possible because Georgia does not apply International Tax Laws, isn’t it great? To take advantage of this situation I advise you to have an offshore company in another country.
In addition to this, there is the possibility to apply for small business status in Georgia as a self-employed person. Thanks to the changes introduced in the Tax Legislation Code of Georgia in 2018, this status gives you the possibility to pay only 1% of your turnover up to 500,000 GEL (145,000 euros), if your turnover exceeds this amount you pay 3%.
But pay attention:
- this percentage is based on turnover and not on profits. That is, if your income reaches 500,000 GEL but your profit is only 100,000, you pay 1% of 500,000 (5000 GEL, 1450 euros).
- you pay this tax only on your income generated in Georgia. Income from abroad is not taxed.
