Cross GEL 100,000 of turnover and Georgia's 18% VAT is yours — including on services you buy from abroad

Georgia's standard VAT rate is 18%, and registration becomes mandatory once taxable turnover passes 100,000 lari. The word that catches people is rolling: the measure is any continuous twelve-month period, so a business can cross the line in the middle of a year on the strength of the previous autumn's takings. A single transaction above the threshold can trigger it too, as can certain imports. Guidance from Georgian tax practitioners puts the registration window at two business days from the moment the line is crossed, which is short enough that noticing late is itself the problem.

Where a service is bought from a foreign supplier and consumed in Georgia, the obligation to account for the 18% shifts onto the Georgian recipient rather than the seller. Digital advertising and social-media services are the examples usually given, and they are exactly the costs a short-let host or a small tour business runs every month without thinking of them as Georgian taxable supplies. The invoice arrives with no VAT on it; the liability is still yours.

VAT in Georgia is a monthly obligation. The declaration for a month is due by the fifteenth of the month that follows, and payment falls on the same date. That cadence is worth planning around if your income is seasonal: a guesthouse that earns most of its money between June and September still files every month, including the months it takes nothing, and the August return comes due in the middle of September when the season is still being cleared up.

If your turnover is anywhere near the line, keep a rolling twelve-month total rather than a year-to-date one, and update it monthly. Separate out anything bought from a foreign supplier, because that sits in a different box. And take advice before assuming a structure keeps you under the threshold — the small-business regime, VAT and income tax are three separate sets of rules that interact, and this article is general information rather than advice on your situation.