For Georgian businesses operating on the European Union market, the central tax questions concern value added tax: where a service is treated as supplied, when the obligation to register for VAT arises, and how a taxable person of an EU member state recovers VAT paid in Georgia. The Georgian Tax Code regulates these matters with precise norms, and it is these norms — not the EU's own One Stop Shop regimes, which serve here only as a contrast — that form the legal backbone for aligning Georgian operations with European requirements. The decisive answer always comes from the Georgian statute.
Place of Supply of Services
The Tax Code norm on the place of supply of services determines where a service is treated as supplied: if a service is supplied on the territory of Georgia, it is not treated as supplied in another country, and vice versa. The basic rule is this: where the recipient is a taxable person, the place of supply is the place where the recipient is established; where the recipient is not a taxable person, it is the place where the supplier is established. Separate rules distinguish services connected with immovable property, transport, restaurant and catering services, events and others. For instance, telecommunications, broadcasting, electronic, advertising, consulting, engineering, legal, accounting and data-processing services supplied to a non-taxable person are treated as supplied where that person is established, has a permanent address or usually resides. These definitions decide whether an operation falls under Georgian VAT at all.
VAT Registration
Article 165 of the Tax Code establishes the registration obligation: a taxable person must apply to the tax authority for VAT registration where the aggregate amount of VAT-taxable operations carried out during any 12 consecutive calendar months exceeds 100 000 GEL — within no later than 2 working days from the day of exceeding. The obligation to account for and pay VAT arises from the moment of the operation by which the aggregate exceeded the threshold. A person manufacturing excise goods applies before the first supply; on reorganization the deadline is 10 days from completion; voluntary registration is possible at any time. When determining the aggregate amount, VAT-exempt operations are not counted, except financial and immovable-property operations carried out as main activity and exports. A person with a fixed establishment in Georgia applies by the last day of the reporting period of the operation.