Monthly tax declarations for an Individual Entrepreneur in Georgia
What you file each month as an IE with Small Business Status, when it is due, what happens if you miss it, and how to stop twelve filings a year becoming a problem.
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Small Business Status trades a low rate for administrative regularity. The rate is 1%; the price is twelve filings a year, every year, whether or not you earned anything.
This is the obligation people underestimate, and it is the one that generates most of the penalty stories.
The deadline
Article 93(1¹) of the Tax Code:
A tax return of a person having the status of small business shall be filed with, and a tax shall be paid to a tax authority not later than the 15th day of a month following the accounting month.
Note that filing and payment share the deadline. Filing on time but paying late is still late.
| Turnover earned in | Declare and pay by |
|---|---|
| January | 15 February |
| February | 15 March |
| … | … |
| December | 15 January |
There is no quarterly option and no annual alternative.
What you actually file
The declaration itself is simple — considerably simpler than the monthly rhythm suggests. You report your turnover for the month, and the system calculates 1% of it.
You do not submit your expenses. You do not attach invoices. Article 91(1) requires you to maintain a special book of records, but it stays with you unless the Revenue Service asks for it.
What you need in practice:
- Access to the Revenue Service portal at rs.ge
- A Georgian phone number, because the portal uses SMS two-factor authentication
- A Georgian bank account to pay from
Zero months still count
If you had no income in a month — a gap between clients, a month off, a business that is seasonal — you still file. A zero declaration takes a minute and keeps your record clean. A skipped one is a missed filing.
This catches people who register in anticipation of work that starts later. The obligation begins with the status, not with the first invoice.
What happens if you miss one
Late filing and late payment attract penalties and interest that accrue over time. The amounts are not ruinous for a single slip, but they compound quietly, and people who have drifted for a year often discover the position only when they try to do something else — renew a permit, close the IE, or prove good standing to a bank.
Two things make this much less likely:
- A standing reminder on the 10th, not the 15th. Five days of slack absorbs a weekend, a public holiday or a travel day.
- Filing immediately after month end, rather than waiting. The declaration does not get easier by being deferred.
Watch the VAT threshold while you are at it
Your monthly turnover figures are also what tell you how close you are to VAT registration. Article 165(1) requires registration once VAT-taxable supplies exceed 100,000 GEL over any 12 consecutive months — a rolling window, not a calendar year.
Because it rolls, you can cross it in the middle of a year while your annual total still looks comfortable. Once you cross, you have 2 business days to apply. Keeping a running twelve-month total alongside your monthly filing is the simplest way to see it coming.
Registering for VAT does not cost you Small Business Status — Article 92 assumes the two coexist — but it does add a second, separate monthly return.
Keeping it manageable
Twelve filings a year is not difficult; it is just relentless. The people who handle it well treat it as a fixed monthly routine rather than a task to remember. The ones who struggle are those who assumed "1% tax" also meant "no admin".
If you want to see what your monthly amount will look like before you commit, the calculator shows the average declaration for a given income.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. The obligation is monthly regardless of turnover. A zero declaration is still a declaration, and skipping it is a missed filing.
Article 93(1¹) requires the return to be filed and the tax paid no later than the 15th day of the month following the accounting month. So January's turnover is declared and paid by 15 February.
In practice, no. Tax payments are made from a Georgian bank account, which is why opening one is effectively part of setting up as an IE.
Corrected declarations can be filed for past periods through the Revenue Service portal. Correcting an understatement yourself is considerably better than having it found for you.
Where these numbers come from
Verified on against the primary sources listed below. This is information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and individual circumstances differ — confirm anything you intend to act on with the Revenue Service or a qualified adviser.
Important caveats
- The 1% and 3% rates apply to turnover (gross income), not profit. Business expenses are not deductible under this regime.
- Only income from a Georgian source is taxed under this regime, and salary income is excluded (Article 90(3)).
- Losses cannot be carried forward to the next year (Article 91(5)).
- The VAT threshold is measured over any 12 consecutive calendar months, not the calendar year used for the Small Business Status limit. The two can be crossed at different times.
- VAT registration does not by itself end Small Business Status; the 1% regime and VAT registration can coexist (Article 92).
- Exports and certain exempt supplies are treated specially when measuring the threshold (Article 165(7)).
Sources
- Tax Code of Georgia — Article 90, Taxable income of small business and tax rates — Article 90(1)-(3)
- Tax Code of Georgia — Article 88, Small business — Article 88(2)-(3)
- Tax Code of Georgia — Article 89, Granting the status of small business — Article 89(2)-(5)
- Tax Code of Georgia — Article 93, Filing micro and small business tax returns — Article 93(1^1)
- Tax Code of Georgia — Article 91, Principles of accounting for small business income and costs — Article 91(1), 91(5)
- Tax Code of Georgia — Article 165, Registration as a VAT taxpayer — Article 165(1)
- Tax Code of Georgia — Article 166, VAT rate — Article 166
- Tax Code of Georgia — Article 92, Registration of a small business as a VAT payer — Article 92(1)