---
title: "Expat Tax Compliance"
url: "https://legal.ge/en/service/tax-law-en/expat-tax-compliance-en"
field: "Tax Law"
description: "Residence is 183 days in 12 months; small business is 1% with a 500,000 GEL threshold. Legal.ge."
reviewed: "2026-06-27"
updated: "2026-11-07"
publisher: "Legal.Ge"
---

# Expat Tax Compliance

> Source: Legal.Ge, https://legal.ge/en/service/tax-law-en/expat-tax-compliance-en

The taxation of a foreign citizen in Georgia is shaped by three pillars of the Tax Code: the 183-day residence test, the small business status for an individual entrepreneur and the respective rates. This page explains how days are counted, when a person becomes a resident and under what conditions the small business rates are used — a practical map for the relocation year and for the years that follow.

## The 183-Day Residence Test

A natural person is considered a resident of Georgia for the entire current tax year where he or she actually stays on the territory of Georgia for 183 days or more in any continuous 12-month period ending in that tax year. The time of actual presence also includes the time during which the person left Georgia specifically for medical treatment, rest, a business trip or study.

At the same time, the time of actual presence does not include periods when the person stayed in Georgia as a person of diplomatic or consular status or as a family member of such a person; as an employee of an international organisation or a person in the state service of a foreign country, save for a citizen of Georgia; in transit from one foreign country to another; or for medical treatment or rest. A day of stay counts irrespective of its length, and days counted in a previous period are not taken into account in the next one. By special rules, residence may also be granted to a person endowed with significant property and, in a determined case, to a foreign citizen.

## The Small Business Status

The small business status may be granted to an individual entrepreneur — an instrument designed for remote work and freelance income. The government, in agreement with the fiscal-budgetary committee of Parliament, may prohibit particular activities under this status and define types of income that are neither taxed nor counted toward the threshold — which is why planning of the status should begin with a verification of the current lists.

The full text is available on Legal.Ge after signing in: https://legal.ge/en/service/tax-law-en/expat-tax-compliance-en

### When do I become a resident?

183 days in any continuous 12 months.

### Is vacation counted?

Leaving for rest or study counts; staying for rest does not.

### Small business rate?

1%, then 3% above the threshold.