Business (LLC) Registration

In most cases, the whole process takes 2-3 business days and involves a visit to our offices, followed by a visit to the Public Service Hall and the Revenue Service, where you're accompanied by our specialist. If you will register remotely via a PoA without visiting Georgia, then the main delay will be the time it takes for you to acquire the PoA and apostilled copy of your passport, and to then send them by mail to us.

Both achieve the same purpose, but the process for acquiring them differs.

Georgian Local PoA & Identification

If you are physically present in Georgia you can head to any notary office with our relevant PoA document and have them notarize it. In addition, you can have your passport translated and notarized to Georgian, and send us a copy. This process takes ~1 hour in total in most cases. We actually suggest, if you will come to Georgia at any point, that you follow this process while here, leave us the documentation, and then we can represent you moving forward. It is both cheaper, quicker, and significantly easier than the foreign PoA process.

Foreign PoA & Identification

If you will not be able to visit Georgia to follow the local process above, you will need to have our PoA agreement (we email it to you) and your passport notarized & apostilled (this is a more complex process than just notarization and can normally only be done by specific government agencies - it can sometimes take weeks to complete). Once that is done, the hard copies of those apostilled documents must be sent to our offices in Georgia. Once received we will get them notarized at the Georgian notary. After which, we can then represent you in opening your business. 

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Once the business registration is complete, under some circumstances, if you require us to represent the LLC (for opening a local bank account, for example), a new PoA would be needed to give us powers to do so. We do not have to get this new PoA in order to complete registration, it is needed only if you want us to represent the company after formation. Please inform your adviser in advance if you think representation of the formed LLC will be needed, then we can advise if an additional PoA will be necessary, or not.

We include advice on which account to open and what you will need, as part of our business registration package. Online banks are the simplest solution and do not require you to be physically present. It is easy to complete the registration yourself online with our guidance.

A lot of firms will tell you it’s easy to open a business bank account with a local bank (physical bank) in Georgia, as a foreign resident. However, this is not accurate anymore. It has become significantly harder in recent years. Not only is it almost impossible unless you attend an appointment yourself in-person, but also, even in that case, rejections are frequent unless your company has a Georgian director/shareholder who can open the account.

Online banks allow for most of the systems you need if your products and services are sold to customers outside Georgia. We can recommend options at no extra cost. Typical registration fees for online banks are ~100 GEL for a multi currency account.

If you specifically need online payment processing for your business, please discuss this with one of our advisers, as it is quite complex.

If all of the paperwork for the PoA process is done correctly at your end, then it is as easy as if we were using a Georgian local PoA. Once all the documents arrive, getting them notarized here and then opening the business takes about the same amount of time as if you were to attend the appointments in person - about 2 to 3 days from beginning the process to having a fully formed LLC.

VAT registration is mandatory if gross VATable turnover exceeds 100,000 GEL in any 12 month period. Once VAT registered, 18% VAT must be collected on all VATable transactions that are not exempt from VAT with or without the entitlement to credit.

Non-VATable sales to foreign clients/customers do not count towards this threshold. They also remain non-VATable even once VAT registered. With limited exceptions, sales of services (including SaaS) which are digitally rendered and provided to customers resident outside Georgia, and not physically present in Georgia, will be non-VATable. 

All B2B (business to business) service transactions between a Georgian business and a non-Georgian business located outside Georgia are entirely VAT exempt.

These are not the only non-VATable transactions. Read more about what is VAT exempt here.

No. Business registration in Georgia is indefinite and there are no annual renewal fees or procedures. Occasionally legislation may change which then requires filing of some paperwork.

It depends. Typically for non-residents of Georgia who are purchasing the registration service remotely, no. One of our team will assess your application and be able to tell you if VAT is due or not. Read more about when VAT is due, here.

No. Our fee includes everything to get you started, assuming you have a permanent legal address in Georgia to register your business. If not, check out our virtual address service.

Note: Remote applications rather than those made in person can incur higher fees, see pricing information above. You will also require a power of attorney and apostilled passport copy for each company director if you will not come to Georgia in person. Physical copies of these must be sent to us, and any fees incurred for this process where you are located outside Georgia, are at your own expense.

The 1% tax rate (on turnover) is a legal option for sole proprietors with a turnover of less than 500k GEL (~$160,000 USD) per tax year, and who will be tax residents of Georgia in the relevant year, and who do not violate any of the conditions which would invalidate the status (such as being an employee rather than a sole proprietor, or being a consultant, etc.)

The 1% tax rate:

* Does not constitute a legal entity and does not allow for multiple directors/shareholders.

* Does not give you any liability protection, whereas an LLC does.

If you are a solopreneur with a turnover below 500k GEL, and you meet the other conditions, then the Small Business Status (SBS) 1% tax rate is worth considering.