When must a Georgian small business register for VAT?
Practical guidance for international readers · Georgia
Small Business Status does not remove the general VAT-registration obligation. If VAT-taxable transactions exceed GEL 100,000 during any continuous 12 calendar months, the taxpayer generally must apply within two business days after the threshold is crossed. VAT liability begins with the transaction that takes the total over the threshold.
What this means in practice
Count a rolling twelve-month period
This is not a calendar-year test. At each transaction, look back across the preceding continuous twelve calendar months and total the transactions that count under the VAT Code. For example, if qualifying transactions total GEL 70,000 late in one year and another GEL 40,000 early in the next year within the same rolling period, the combined amount is GEL 110,000; crossing 1 January does not reset the calculation.
The general threshold and deadline are set out in Article 157 of Georgia’s Tax Code. It says the application is due within no more than two business days from the day the taxable transaction total exceeds GEL 100,000, and the taxpayer is treated as VAT-registered from the transaction that crosses the threshold. Do not wait until the end of the month to check the total.
Not every payment is counted the same way
First establish whether a transaction is taxable for Georgian VAT and where the supply is treated as taking place. The Code excludes some exempt transactions from the mandatory-registration calculation and contains separate rules for particular activities. A customer’s foreign address alone does not establish that a service is outside the Georgian VAT system. Review the nature of the service and its place-of-supply rule before deciding whether to include it.
The GEL 100,000 VAT threshold is separate from the annual turnover limit associated with Small Business Status. Track the two calculations independently. If you are approaching the VAT threshold, ask an accountant or the Revenue Service to confirm which transactions count and what filing date applies to your facts.