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This page is about Georgia in the South Caucasus, with Tbilisi as its capital, not the American state; companies in the US state of Georgia are filed with its Secretary of State and are covered under company formation in the USA. Much of a Georgian company’s appeal lies in its tax design. Profit is taxed when it leaves the company, as a dividend or a payment unrelated to the business, so a company that reinvests what it earns pays no profit tax on it in the meantime. On top of that come special statuses for software producers selling abroad and for international companies, and a network of 58 double taxation treaties in force.
The usual vehicle is the limited liability company (LLC, in Georgian შპს), registered by the National Agency of Public Registry (NAPR). It can be wholly foreign owned and managed from abroad. A ready made company in Georgia, also sold as a shelf or off the shelf company, is such an LLC registered earlier and never used for trading.
| Form | Separate legal person | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Limited liability company (LLC) | Yes; no statutory minimum capital | Most trading, service, IT and holding companies; the form of our ready-made Georgian companies |
| Joint-stock company (JSC) | Yes; GEL 100,000 of subscribed capital at registration | Larger structures with many shareholders, and activities for which a special law requires it |
| Branch of a foreign company | No | A foreign company that wants a presence without a Georgian subsidiary |
| Individual entrepreneur | No; personally liable with all assets | A person trading alone |
The Law of Georgia on Entrepreneurs of 2021 also provides for general and limited partnerships and cooperatives. Signatures, the legal address and the NAPR filing are described on Georgia company registration.
| Tax or regime | Position in 2026 |
|---|---|
| Profit tax | 15%, charged on distributed profit, on payments unrelated to the business, on goods and services given away and on representation expenses above the limit; retained profit is not taxed |
| Banks and lenders | 20% on annual profit for banks, credit unions, microfinance organisations and loan providers |
| Dividend withholding | 5% on dividends to individuals and non-resident companies, before treaty relief; none on dividends to Georgian companies |
| VAT | 18%; registration once taxable supplies pass GEL 100,000 in any 12 consecutive months |
| International company status | Granted by the Government for listed activities: 5% profit tax, no tax at source on its dividends |
| Virtual zone person | Profit from supplying abroad information technology produced in Georgia, meaning software products, is exempt from profit tax |
Two points are often blurred. The 5% regime is international company status, not an “IT zone”, and the IT exemption belongs to virtual zone persons; each is a status the company applies for, never something that comes with registration. And Georgia is outside the EU, so relief on cross-border dividends comes from its treaties rather than from EU directives.
Partners and the manager can be of any nationality and live anywhere, and the manager may be a company. A manager is appointed for up to three years and can be reappointed. A work permit becomes relevant only if the manager actually works inside Georgia. There is no company secretary in Georgian law and no local director requirement; what the law insists on is a legal address that is the company’s actual address in Georgia, where documents can be inspected and notices delivered.
Ownership is visible in a particular way. The NAPR Registry, open to the public, shows every partner of an LLC with name, residential address and identification data. Georgia has no central register of beneficial owners: banks and other obliged entities identify any person holding 25% or more, or controlling the company otherwise, under the anti-money-laundering law, and the authorities obtain the information from them.
Banks are supervised by the National Bank of Georgia, and deposits are insured by a separate Deposit Insurance Agency up to GEL 50,000 per depositor per bank since 1 April 2026, with company deposits included unless the company is a financial institution. Opening the account may need a visit: one major bank opens business accounts for non-residents only at a branch in Georgia, attended by the director or a representative holding a power of attorney. A shelf company’s account, where it has one, belongs to the company, but after the sale the bank re-checks the new owners and may keep it, ask for more or close it. More on bank accounts for Georgian companies.
Form a new LLC in most cases. NAPR’s published service period for registering one is a working day, no capital has to be paid in, and the founding papers need the same certified signatures, apostille and translation as a share transfer would.
Buy a ready-made LLC when an earlier registration date that anyone can check in the Registry matters to a counterparty or a bank, or when an identification number already in use, or a voluntary VAT registration, helps from the first invoice. It does not carry international company or virtual zone status, nor any registration with the National Bank. How the purchase is registered is on ready-made shelf companies in Georgia, and what an older company does and does not offer is discussed in our guide to off-the-shelf companies.
We supply ready-made Georgian LLCs and form new ones, drafting the founding or transfer documents, coordinating signatures, apostilles and translations, and preparing the NAPR application. We also help prepare the bank application and, where we have a working contact at a suitable bank, make an introduction; the bank alone decides.
An LLC that NAPR has already registered, that has never traded, and whose founder holds the shares until a buyer takes them over. The buyer acquires an existing legal person with its registration date and identification number, rather than founding a new one. It concerns Georgia the country; American shelf corporations in the state of Georgia are a separate matter under US law.
Yes, for an ordinary company. Profit tax at 15% falls due when profit is distributed or spent on items unrelated to the business, so earnings kept and reinvested are not taxed while they stay in the company. Banks, credit unions, microfinance organisations and loan providers are the exception and pay 20% on annual profit. A dividend paid to an individual or a foreign company also bears 5% withholding.
Only after its own application. Virtual zone status is granted to a legal person producing information technology in Georgia that applies for it, and international company status is granted by the Government to an enterprise limited to the activities it lists. Neither comes with registration, and a never-traded shelf LLC holds neither, so a buyer applies in the company’s name after the purchase.
No local director: the manager may be a foreign individual or a foreign company living or based anywhere. An address is a different matter. The legal address must be the company’s actual address in Georgia, backed by the owner’s consent or a lease or other use agreement, because documents are inspected and notices delivered there. A founder’s or manager’s registered Georgian address can serve.
Yes. Deposits of resident and non-resident individuals and legal entities at commercial banks and microbanks in Georgia are insured up to GEL 50,000 per depositor per bank since 1 April 2026, with several accounts at one bank added together. Deposits of financial institutions, and of a bank’s own administrators and shareholders with 5% or more, are excluded. Compensation is paid in lari.
Thinking about a company in Georgia? Tell us who will own and manage it and what it will do, and we will say whether a new LLC or a ready-made one fits and which ready-made Georgian companies are available now. We also answer on Telegram and WhatsApp at +48 663 247 166.