Property Taxes in Georgia

This is one of the notable differences between Georgia and a number of other markets. On an ordinary apartment purchase, the buyer doesn't pay a separate tax just for the property changing ownership.

You need to factor in the costs of registering ownership and, depending on the deal, additional services: document translation, notary or legal services, a property valuation and other related costs. That's why when we help select a property, we calculate the full budget of the deal, not just the apartment's price.

Owning an apartment doesn't automatically mean every foreign owner pays a fixed percentage of its value every year. For an individual, what matters is the family's income for the previous calendar year.

Up to GEL 40,000: an individual's taxable property, other than land, is exempt from property tax if the family's income for the previous year didn't exceed GEL 40,000.

Above GEL 40,000: a property tax liability may arise. The amount then depends on family income, the property's market value and the applicable rate.

The Tax Code sets rate ranges, and the specific rate is determined within the legally set limits.

For families with income up to GEL 100,000, the Code provides for a range of 0.05-0.2% of the taxable property's market value. For families with income of GEL 100,000 and above — 0.8-1%. The exemption up to GEL 40,000 applies separately.

That's not automatically how it works. For property tax purposes, the Tax Code uses a specific concept of family income, and various kinds of income can be included in the calculation. The Revenue Service even provides a separate calculator for determining an individual's income specifically for property tax purposes.

So a foreign owner, especially one whose income is earned outside Georgia, is better off working out the tax liability with an accountant, for their specific situation.

For an individual, the Revenue Service gives the following deadlines:

By November 1: filing the annual return.

By November 15: paying the tax.

The tax is calculated based on the period the taxable property was owned within the tax period.

For an investor, this matters far more than the ownership tax itself. The Tax Code provides a 5% rate for an individual's income from renting out residential space for living, subject to the regime's set conditions.

This matters for an investment calculation. If an apartment brought in, say, $10,000 in rental income, and the owner spent $2,000 on management, upkeep and other costs, you can't automatically calculate tax as 5% × ($10,000 − $2,000).

So an investment calculation needs to work through each of these steps separately, rather than deriving the result from a single rate.

Separate tax mechanisms exist for short-term rental. The Revenue Service, for example, offers a special service for an owner running short-term rental to switch to a fixed income tax regime.

For an investment property, this needs to be established before calculating the promised yield, not after the purchase.

The tax applies not to the whole sale price, but to the corresponding gain, determined under the Tax Code's rules. For a residential apartment or house, the Code provides a special 5% rate on surplus income from the sale. But there's an important exemption.

Income from selling a residential apartment or house together with its land plot is exempt from taxation if the property was owned by the individual for more than two years. The Revenue Service separately confirms this rule.

This is already a very important factor for an investment strategy.

What matters for taxation is the gain, determined under the Tax Code's rules, not the full $120,000.

It's more accurate to say: for certain sales of residential property, a 5% rate applies to the taxable gain; after the set holding period, an exemption applies.

Consider two scenarios.

At first glance you could just compare the entry price and the future sale price. But the tax result can differ. So before an investment purchase you need to understand not just what the apartment might be worth in a few years, but also when the ownership period starts and which tax regime will apply under the chosen exit scenario. This matters especially for off-plan property.

Foreign citizenship by itself doesn't mean a separate "foreigner's tax" on the apartment. But the tax consequences of a specific situation can depend on tax residency, the source of income, how the property is used and other circumstances.

In addition, the owner may have tax obligations not only in Georgia but also in their country of tax residency. So an international buyer shouldn't automatically carry Georgia's rate over to their entire tax situation.

That's exactly why two investments with the same price growth can produce a different final result for their owners.

Say a client is comparing:

Apartment A — $90,000: for short-term rental.

Apartment B — $105,000: for long-term rental.

Apartment C — $85,000: under construction, for resale later.

Comparing prices alone is pointless. Each scenario has its own economics: