The Tax Framework for Cryptocurrency
In Georgia cryptocurrency is taxed under the general norms of personal income tax: the Tax Code provides no special rate for cryptocurrency, so the taxpayer, the object of taxation and the rate are determined by the general rules. The taxpayer is a resident natural person and a non-resident natural person who receives income from a source existing in Georgia (Article 79); the object of taxation is taxable income — the difference between the aggregate income received during a calendar year and deductions (Article 80); and the general rate is 20 percent (Article 81).
Tax obligations presume market entry: if your crypto business provides services over customers’ virtual assets, National Bank registration comes first — our VASP licence in Georgia guide covers that cycle.
The surplus from operations with crypto assets fits the general model of income from the realization of property: the Code lists surpluses from the supply of assets defined by the Code among property-realization incomes, so a sale or exchange generates a surplus taxed precisely under these general norms. For a resident this means annual aggregation with other income and the subtraction of deductions; for a non-resident, verifying the Georgian-source connection.
Who Is the Taxpayer and What Is Taxed
Under Article 79, the taxpayer of income tax is a resident natural person and a non-resident natural person receiving income from a source in Georgia. For a resident, the object of taxation is taxable income — the difference between the aggregate income received during the calendar year and the deductions provided by the Code for that period. For a non-resident carrying out activity through a permanent establishment in Georgia, the object is determined analogously from the income connected with the permanent establishment.
For the realization of property the Code sets a separate rule: a non-resident natural person who receives income from the realization of property is a taxpayer of income tax on the aggregate income received from a source in Georgia during the calendar year, reduced by deductions connected with receiving such income. Property-realization incomes include, among others, the surplus from the supply of assets defined by the Code and the surplus from the realization of other property — precisely the categories into which trading in crypto assets falls.