Nobody posts you a reminder. Georgian filing deadlines are real, they are enforced, and most foreign owners discover them through a fine rather than a calendar. Annual reporting in Georgia is not one job either: it splits across two agencies running two different clocks. Here is the whole sequence, in the order it actually happens, with the dates that matter.
Two filing systems, not one
Georgia has no Companies House style annual return. You do not file anything with the business registry once a year simply to confirm the company still exists.
You file in two places instead. The Service for Accounting, Reporting and Auditing Supervision, known as SARAS, takes your annual financial statements. The Revenue Service takes your tax returns through rs.ge, and those are mostly monthly.
Different portals, different logins, different deadlines. The accountant filing your monthly VAT is not automatically filing your financial statements. That gap is the single most common cause of a company with a clean tax record and three missing reporting years.
Your rs.ge credentials do not get you into the financial reporting portal. Registration there is separate, and the obligation sits with the entity, not with whoever you pay to do the bookkeeping.
Step 1: Find your enterprise category
The Law of Georgia on Accounting, Reporting and Audit sorts every enterprise into four size categories. Your category decides what you submit, which reporting standard applies, and whether an audit is compulsory.
| Category | Total assets | Annual revenue | Employees | Statutory audit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fourth | up to GEL 1m | up to GEL 2m | up to 10 | No |
| Third | up to GEL 10m | up to GEL 20m | up to 50 | No |
| Second | up to GEL 50m | up to GEL 100m | up to 250 | Yes |
| First | above GEL 50m | above GEL 100m | above 250 | Yes |
You land in a category by meeting at least two of the three criteria. Public interest entities such as banks, insurers and listed companies sit outside this grid and carry the heaviest obligations regardless of size.
Two practical notes. These thresholds have been amended since the law passed, so treat the table as orientation and confirm your own position with the category calculator on the reporting portal or with your accountant. And most foreign-owned Georgian LLCs land squarely in the fourth category, which means the lightest submission and no audit. It does not mean no submission.
Step 2: Get the financial statements filed by 1 October
Financial statements go to SARAS through Reportal, the public reporting portal, where filed statements are then searchable by anyone.
The deadline is fixed. SARAS states that entities must report immediately, but no later than 1 October of the year following the reporting period. So statements for the 2025 calendar year are due by 1 October 2026, and 2026 statements by 1 October 2027.
If your reporting period is not the calendar year, the rule shifts to nine months from the end of that period. Almost no small Georgian company uses a non-calendar year, but groups with a foreign parent sometimes do.
What you submit scales with category. First and second category enterprises and public interest entities file financial statements plus a management report and the audit report. Third and fourth category enterprises file a lighter set. Getting the underlying numbers right is a bookkeeping problem long before it is a filing problem, which is why the bookkeeping requirements for a Georgian LLC are worth sorting out in month one rather than month eleven.
Small foreign-owned LLCs routinely assume the reporting portal is a big-company obligation. It is not. Fourth category enterprises submit too, and missing years surface at the worst moment: a bank compliance review, a buyer's due diligence, a residence permit file that needs company statements.
Step 3: The monthly returns that never stop
Your tax filings run on a separate rhythm. The Tax Code of Georgia sets the dates, and for most business taxes the date is the 15th of the following month.
| Filing | Who files it | Frequency | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profit tax return | Companies under the distributed profit regime | Monthly | 15th of the next month |
| Payroll withholding return | Any entity paying salaries | Monthly | 15th of the next month |
| VAT return | Persons registered for VAT | Monthly | 15th of the next month |
| Small business turnover return | Individual entrepreneurs with small business status | Monthly | 15th of the next month |
| Property tax return | Enterprises and organisations | Annual | 1 April |
| Income or profit tax return | Individuals and enterprises outside the monthly profit tax regime | Annual | 1 April |
The VAT line only bites once you are registered, and registration is triggered by turnover rather than by choice. If you are near the line, read up on VAT registration thresholds in Georgia before you cross it, because backdated registration is unpleasant.
Step 4: Why most Georgian LLCs have no annual tax return
Georgia taxes distributed profit rather than accounting profit. A company pays profit tax when it distributes, not when it earns.
That design has a consequence people miss. Under Article 153 of the Tax Code, companies taxed on distributions file a profit tax return every month by the 15th, and they are explicitly carved out of the 1 April annual return that applies to everyone else. So a standard Georgian LLC's annual reporting to the Revenue Service is really twelve monthly returns, plus a property tax return by 1 April if it owns taxable property.
The 1 April return still catches resident individuals whose income was not taxed at a Georgian source, non-residents with untaxed Georgian income, and the enterprises that sit outside the monthly profit tax regime. If you are an owner drawing income personally as well as through the company, the personal side and the company side have separate deadlines and separate consequences.
Step 5: Work out whether you need an audit
Audit is a category question, not a revenue question you can argue about. Public interest entities and first and second category enterprises, along with groups at those sizes, must have their statements audited. Third and fourth category enterprises are outside the statutory audit requirement unless other legislation pulls them in.
If you are near the second category boundary, plan the audit engagement months ahead. Audit capacity in Tbilisi tightens through the summer as the October deadline approaches, and the better audit firms in Tbilisi stop taking new work well before then.
What actually trips people up
Dormant companies still file
A company with no revenue is not a company with no obligations. The monthly profit tax return is still due, the financial statements are still due, and a year of silence still reads as a year of non-compliance.
The 0% rate is not a filing exemption
Virtual zone and international company status change the rate you pay, not the paperwork you file. Financial statements and monthly returns continue exactly as before, and status conditions get checked against filed numbers. The specifics for software and freelance businesses sit in our guide to accounting for IT companies and freelancers.
Individual entrepreneurs are not on holiday
An IE with 1% small business status files a turnover return and pays every month by the 15th. Whether an IE also carries a financial statement obligation depends on how it classifies under the accounting law, so check that with a professional rather than assuming the answer.
Your first partial year counts
A company registered in September has a reporting period running from registration to 31 December. That stub period is a real reporting period with a real 1 October deadline the following year.
What being late actually costs
The Tax Code prices lateness precisely. Miss a tax return deadline by up to two months and the fine is 5% of the tax assessed on that return for each overdue month, with part months counted as whole ones, capped at 30%. Go past two months and it becomes a flat 10% of the assessed tax. If the return shows zero tax due, no fine applies.
That last clause explains a lot of what we see. Dormant companies rack up years of missed monthly returns without a single lari of penalty, then get an unpleasant surprise when the first month with actual tax due arrives on top of a compliance history nobody can quickly clean up.
Late financial statements are handled separately under the accounting law, which provides for liability for failure to submit. The amounts have been amended more than once, so ask your accountant for the figure in force before you decide a deadline is optional.
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A calendar you can actually work from
Pin these four lines somewhere visible:
- Every month by the 15th: profit tax, payroll withholding, VAT and small business turnover returns for the previous month.
- 1 April: property tax return for enterprises, and the annual income or profit tax return where it applies to you.
- Through summer: close the prior year, agree the statements, book an auditor if your category needs one.
- 1 October: financial statements for the previous calendar year, filed on Reportal.
Doing this yourself is possible, and plenty of single-owner companies manage it. It stops being sensible the moment you have employees, VAT, or a second country's tax authority with an interest in you. We walk through the honest version of that trade-off in our piece on whether you need an accountant at all, and the market rates in what accounting services cost in Georgia.
For a firm to take the whole calendar off your desk, start with our ranked list of vetted accountants in Tbilisi. For structuring questions that sit above bookkeeping, such as residency, treaty relief or a status application, tax advisors in Tbilisi are the right first call.
Key takeaways
- Georgian annual reporting runs on two tracks: financial statements to SARAS and tax returns to the Revenue Service.
- Financial statements are due by 1 October of the year following the reporting period, or nine months after a non-calendar year end.
- Your enterprise category sets what you file and whether an audit is compulsory. Fourth category is the lightest, not exempt.
- Most Georgian LLCs file profit tax monthly by the 15th and have no annual profit tax return.
- 1 April is the date for the enterprise property tax return and for annual returns where they apply.
- Late tax returns carry percentage-based fines, with no fine where the return shows zero tax due.
- Dormant companies, virtual zone companies and individual entrepreneurs all keep filing.
FAQ
What is the deadline for annual reporting in Georgia?
Financial statements must reach SARAS no later than 1 October of the year following the reporting period. Companies with a non-calendar reporting period get nine months from the period end instead. Tax returns run on their own schedule, mostly the 15th of the month following the reporting month. The two deadlines are independent, and meeting one does nothing for the other.
Do small Georgian companies have to file financial statements?
Yes. Fourth category enterprises, which covers most small foreign-owned LLCs, submit financial statements to the reporting portal like everyone else. Their submission is lighter and no statutory audit is required. The size thresholds are set in the accounting law and are worth confirming against the portal's category calculator.
Where do I submit financial statements in Georgia?
Through Reportal, the public reporting portal operated under SARAS. You register the entity on the portal's submission system, confirm your category, then upload the statements. Filed statements become publicly searchable, which is one reason to make sure the numbers are right before submission.
Does a Georgian LLC file an annual tax return?
Usually not a profit tax one. Companies taxed under the distributed profit regime file monthly profit tax returns by the 15th and are carved out of the 1 April annual return. They still file a property tax return by 1 April if they hold taxable property. Owners may separately owe a personal 1 April return on income not taxed at source.
What is the penalty for filing a Georgian tax return late?
Up to two months late, the fine is 5% of the tax assessed on that return per overdue month, counting part months as whole, capped at 30%. Beyond two months it becomes a flat 10% of the assessed tax. If the return shows no tax due, no fine is charged. Interest on unpaid tax is a separate matter from the filing fine.
Does my Georgian company need an audit?
Only if you are a public interest entity or a first or second category enterprise, or part of a group at those sizes. Third and fourth category companies are outside the statutory audit requirement unless other legislation applies to them specifically. Investors, lenders or a foreign parent may still ask for an audit contractually.
Do dormant Georgian companies still have to file?
Yes. A company with no activity still files monthly returns and still submits annual financial statements. Because the late-filing fine is calculated on tax assessed, a dormant company often accumulates missed deadlines without immediate cash penalties. The backlog becomes a problem at the first bank review, sale or licence application.
When is the property tax return due for a Georgian company?
Enterprises and organisations file the property tax return and pay by 1 April of the calendar year. The return records the taxable property held. Companies that own no taxable property in Georgia are not filing this one, but check what counts before deciding you are out of scope.
Do virtual zone and international companies file annual reports?
Yes. Preferential status changes your tax rate, not your reporting obligations. Financial statements, monthly returns and the underlying bookkeeping all continue, and the filed numbers are what a status review looks at. Sloppy reporting is a faster route to losing a status than an aggressive tax position.
Can I handle annual reporting in Georgia myself?
Technically yes, and simple single-owner companies do. It becomes a poor use of your time once you have payroll, VAT registration, foreign currency transactions or another country asking questions. The portals are Georgian-language first, which is the practical obstacle for most foreign owners. Budget for at least an annual review by a professional even if you file monthly yourself.
What if I have never filed financial statements?
Fix it rather than wait for a letter. Prior years can generally be prepared and submitted late, and doing so voluntarily is a better position than being found. Get an accountant to reconstruct the years from bank statements and invoices, then file oldest first. Ask them upfront what the current liability for late submission is so there are no surprises.