The 1% regime now demands a monthly return — even in a month you earned nothing

ExpatHub's summary of the amendments, which it dates to 7 March 2026, sets out three practical changes. Monthly declarations are now mandatory for everyone holding small business status, including months with no income; failing to file is treated as a tax offence and can be fined, where previously a missed filing was read as a zero return. The 1% rate now takes effect from the day the request is submitted to the Revenue Service rather than from the first day of the following month. And after the status is revoked, reapplication has to wait until the next tax year.

Andersen in Georgia describes small business status as a 1% turnover tax for individual entrepreneurs up to 500,000 lari of annual turnover, with a higher 700,000 lari threshold for agritourism and a 3% rate on the excess once the limit is passed in a year. Separately, VAT registration at 18% becomes mandatory when turnover in any rolling twelve months passes 100,000 lari. A list of activities is excluded, among them legal, audit, tax advisory, medical, architectural, consultancy and financial services.

The rate is not what catches people out; the calendar is. A host with seasonal income, or an owner who rents for part of the year, previously had nothing to do in the quiet months. Under the amended rules those are exactly the months in which a return still has to be filed, and a habit of skipping them can accumulate into penalties and, ultimately, into losing the status. Set a monthly reminder or hand the filing to an accountant on a fixed retainer.

Summaries like this one are a starting point, not advice. Whether rental income sits inside or outside the regime, how the VAT threshold interacts with it and what a foreign tax authority will make of the arrangement all depend on individual circumstances. Confirm the current position with the Revenue Service or a Georgian tax adviser before relying on it, and keep the correspondence.