Property taxes in Georgia are low enough that most people stop reading after the headline rate. Then a tax notice arrives, or a sale gets taxed that should not have been, or the 1 November declaration passes unnoticed. The rules are short. They also hang on definitions that are easy to read past. Here is every tax and fee attached to owning property here, with the article that creates it.
What Georgia charges, and what it does not
Georgia has five national taxes: income tax, profit tax, VAT, excise and import duty. Property tax is the only local tax, introduced by each municipality's Sakrebulo within ceilings the code sets. That list is Article 6 of the Tax Code of Georgia.
Nothing on it is a transfer tax, a stamp duty or a purchase tax. Buying an apartment in Tbilisi triggers a state registration fee and nothing else. What you pay after that is annual property tax if your household earns enough, income tax on rent, and income tax on some sales.
The property tax rate bands
Article 202(5) sets the annual rate as a band rather than a fixed figure. Taxable property under Article 201(1)(c) covers real estate you own, including unfinished construction, plus vehicles, yachts, helicopters and aircraft.
| Family income | Annual rate on taxable property | Land tax | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 40,000 GEL in the year before the tax year | Exempt | Still payable | Article 206(1)(a) |
| Up to 100,000 GEL in the tax year | 0.05% to 0.2% of market value | Payable | Article 202(5)(a) |
| 100,000 GEL and above in the tax year | 0.8% to 1% of market value | Payable | Article 202(5)(b) |
The band is a range because the municipality picks the number inside it. The value it applies to is market value at the end of the tax year, not a cadastral figure and not your purchase price.
Two income tests, two different years
The exemption in Article 206(1)(a) looks at family income in the year preceding the tax year. The rate bands in Article 202(5) look at income earned during the tax year itself. Same thresholds, different years, and most summaries collapse them into one.
A year in which you earned nothing can still carry tax if the previous year was strong, and a strong year can still be exempt if the previous one was quiet. Check both years before you conclude you owe nothing.
What counts as family income
Article 202(6) is wide: taxable income from economic activity, any other income, and gross salary. Tax benefits are ignored, so income that is exempt from income tax still counts here.
Two carve-outs matter. Small business status holders count only 25% of the income taxed under that treatment, per Article 202(6)(d.a). Article 202(7)(a.b) excludes proceeds from selling a home held over two years, so one large disposal will not shunt you into the top band. Whether your foreign income enters the count at all turns on your status, which we cover in Georgian tax residency rules.
What it costs to buy
The state charge on a purchase is a registration fee at the National Agency of Public Registry, published in its immovable property registration fees schedule.
| Service | Term | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Registering a change of ownership | 4 working days | 150 GEL |
| Registering a change of ownership | 1 working day | 270 GEL |
| Registering a change of ownership | Same day | 350 GEL |
| Signature confirmation on the contract | Immediate | 7 GEL |
| Registry extract, paper | 1 working day | 20 GEL |
| Registry extract, electronic | 1 working day | 13 GEL |
| Cadastral plan | 1 working day | 7 GEL |
| Mortgage certificate | 3 working days | 75 GEL |
Same-day registration costs more than double the four-day service. Unless money moves that afternoon, the slower tier is the default.
Everything else is market-priced and negotiable: agency commission, a lawyer, a translator, an appraisal if a bank or a permit application needs one. Our walk-through of buying an apartment as a foreigner covers the sequence, property due diligence checks covers what to pull from the registry first, and our ranked list of real estate agencies in Tbilisi shows who works in English.
Land tax, and why most apartment owners never see it
Land tax is a separate charge under Articles 203 and 204, and the 40,000 GEL exemption does not reach it. Article 204(2) fixes a basic rate of 0.24 GEL per square metre per year on non-agricultural land, multiplied by a territorial coefficient the municipal Sakrebulo sets and which cannot exceed 1.5. Agricultural land is charged per hectare on a district schedule.
Then comes the paragraph every apartment owner needs. Article 206(1)(gg¹) exempts the parcel of land calculated pro rata to the space a natural person co-owns in a residential apartment house, so the plot under your building is not taxed on you. Article 206(1)(gg²) adds an exemption for land attached to residential houses and garages inside municipal boundaries, within an area limit the Sakrebulo defines. Land tax is live if you own a house on its own plot, a commercial site or bare land, and academic if you own a flat.
Tax on rental income
Article 81 produces very different outcomes depending on how you let and whether you claim expenses.
| What you do with the property | Rate | Deductions | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Let residential space for residential use, claiming nothing | 5% of gross rent | Not allowed | Article 81(2) |
| Let with expenses deducted, or let for non-residential use | 20% of taxable income | Allowed | Article 81(1) |
| Sell a residential apartment held under two years | 5% of the surplus | Cost base only | Articles 81(3) and 82(4)(b) |
| Sell a residential apartment held over two years | Exempt | Not applicable | Article 82(1)(f.a) |
The 5% rate is conditional on claiming no deductions at all. For a long tenancy on a finished flat that is usually the cheaper answer, and our guide to long-term rental agreements in Tbilisi sets out what the contract should say. Where the flat was gutted and refitted, the 20% route with real deductions can win.
Nightly letting is a different animal, with its own registration and a municipal overlay, and the fixed-rate regimes attached to it have been amended repeatedly. Read our short-term rental rules in Tbilisi before assuming 5% carries across. If someone else runs the unit, the property management companies in Tbilisi we rank usually file for you.
Article 205(12) puts the natural person's property tax return due by 1 November and Article 205(14) puts payment due by 15 November, filed through the Revenue Service e-services portal. Under Article 205(13)(b) the authority can assess you automatically on last year's data, so silence is not the same as nothing owed.
We research the real estate agencies working in Tbilisi and rank the ones worth paying. Independently researched, re-checked quarterly, free to read.
See the ranked list
Tax when you sell
Article 81(3) taxes surplus from disposing of a residential apartment or house and its attached land at 5%. Article 82(1)(f.a) then exempts that surplus entirely where the property was owned more than two years, which is where most Tbilisi resales land.
Article 82(4)(b) defines surplus as the supply price minus the purchase price at the moment title was created. Where the property came free of charge, the comparison is its market price when you received it, so gifted and inherited flats need a documented value from day one.
Two timing details decide the two-year question. Article 82(4)(a²) sets the moment of supply as the date of the document the transfer was registered on, not the date the money moved. Article 82(4)(a¹) lets a first line heir add the deceased owner's holding period to their own, so an inherited apartment is often already past two years.
Where foreign owners get caught
Non-residential property is always economic activity
Article 158(3) states that supplying a non-residential building or structure counts as economic activity however one-off the transaction is. An office, a commercial ground floor or a unit registered as non-residential gets none of the casual-seller treatment a flat gets.
Once taxable supplies pass 100,000 GEL in any 12 consecutive months, Article 165(1) makes VAT registration mandatory within two business days and Article 166 puts the rate at 18%. Article 160(6) treats the joint sale of a plot and the building on it as a supply of the building. Check how your unit is registered on the extract before you sign, not after you invoice.
The same threshold governs ordinary trading businesses, and we explain how it is measured in VAT registration thresholds.
The value you declare is the value you are held to
Nobody sends you a valuation. You declare market value at the end of the tax year, Article 202(8) fixes liability at the rates in force on 31 December, and Article 202(9) prorates the charge to the months you owned the property, so a November completion carries roughly a sixth of a year.
Article 202(4¹) is the one to respect. During an audit the tax authority may set a taxable property's value at market price, and that price then applies for the following three tax years. An hour with tax advisors in Tbilisi before the first filing costs less than an assessment.
Agricultural land is not open to you
Article 19(4) of the Constitution of Georgia treats agricultural land as a resource of special importance and allows it to be owned only by the State, a self-governing unit, a citizen of Georgia or an association of Georgian citizens, with exceptions available only by organic law. Non-agricultural property carries no such restriction.
Land category is a registry fact, not a listing description, so have real estate lawyers in Tbilisi confirm it on the extract before a deposit moves. One caveat on everything above: the English consolidated text on the Legislative Herald lags the Georgian original, so confirm live figures before you file.
Key takeaways
- Georgia has no transfer tax, stamp duty or purchase tax. The registry fee is 150, 270 or 350 GEL depending on speed.
- Annual property tax runs 0.05% to 0.2% of market value under 100,000 GEL of family income, and 0.8% to 1% at or above it.
- The 40,000 GEL exemption is tested on last year's family income. The rate band is tested on this year's.
- Apartment owners are exempt from land tax on their share of the plot under the building.
- Residential rent to a residential occupier is taxed at 5% with no deductions, or 20% after deductions.
- A home held over two years is exempt on sale. Under two years, the surplus is taxed at 5%.
- Declaration is due 1 November, payment 15 November.
FAQ
Do foreigners pay property tax in Georgia?
Yes, on the same terms as Georgian citizens. Article 201 makes a natural person a property tax payer on real estate owned in Georgia without reference to nationality. Residency changes how your income is measured for the rate band, not whether the property is taxable.
How much is property tax in Georgia?
Between 0.05% and 1% of market value per year, depending on family income. Families under 100,000 GEL in the tax year sit in the 0.05% to 0.2% band, those at or above it in the 0.8% to 1% band. Households whose income the year before was under 40,000 GEL are exempt on everything but land.
Is there a purchase or transfer tax when buying property in Georgia?
No. Article 6 of the Tax Code lists five national taxes and one local tax, and none is a transfer duty. Your only mandatory state cost on a purchase is the public registry fee, starting at 150 GEL for four-day service, and agency commission and legal fees are commercial charges rather than taxes.
When is the property tax declaration due in Georgia?
The return is due by 1 November under Article 205(12), and payment by 15 November under Article 205(14). It reports the previous year's taxable property and the current year's taxable land. Filing runs through the Revenue Service taxpayer portal, so set up access well before the deadline.
What counts as family income for property tax?
Almost everything. Article 202(6) includes taxable income from economic activity, gross salary and any other income, and it ignores tax benefits, so exempt income still counts. Small business status holders count only 25% of the income taxed under that regime, and proceeds from a home held over two years are excluded.
Do I pay land tax on my Tbilisi apartment?
Generally not. Article 206(1)(gg¹) exempts the share of land attributable to the space a natural person co-owns in a residential apartment building. Land tax bites on houses with their own plots beyond the municipal allowance, on bare land and on commercial sites, and the 40,000 GEL income exemption never reaches land.
How is rental income taxed in Georgia?
At 5% of gross rent where a natural person lets residential space for residential purposes and claims no deductions, under Article 81(2). Deduct expenses, or let for non-residential use, and the rate is 20% on taxable income under Article 81(1). You cannot mix the two on the same income.
Do I pay capital gains tax when I sell a Georgian apartment?
Not if you held it more than two years, because Article 82(1)(f.a) exempts the surplus on a residential apartment or house with its attached land. Sell earlier and Article 81(3) taxes the surplus at 5%, calculated as sale price minus the price you paid. The clock runs to the date of the document behind the ownership transfer, not the payment date.
Can foreigners buy land in Georgia?
Non-agricultural land, yes. Agricultural land, no: Article 19(4) of the Constitution reserves it for the State, self-governing units, Georgian citizens and associations of Georgian citizens, with exceptions only by organic law. Land category is recorded in the registry, so verify it on the extract rather than relying on how a plot is marketed.