Tax filing in Georgia: rs.ge deadlines and nil returns

Registering a sole trader in Georgia takes a day, and the reporting then runs every month. That is where people stumble: the declaration is forgotten because the tax looks symbolic.

Here is who files and when, what to do with zero turnover, and at what point handing the books to an accountant makes sense.

Who files and when in Georgia

The declaration is submitted by the entrepreneur or their accountant, monthly and no later than the 15th of the month following the reporting one. The tax is paid by the same date.

Tax is charged on turnover, and for a sole trader with small business status the rate is 1% up to GEL 500,000 a year. Who qualifies for that rate and which income falls outside it is covered separately in the article on Georgia's 1% tax.

The annual declaration goes through the same Revenue Service portal. No visit to the tax office is required for it.

What you need to file yourself

The minimum set:

• access to your account on rs.ge, issued when you are registered for tax;
• a bank statement for the month, to calculate turnover;
• the invoices you issued to clients.

The portal is straightforward and a freelancer has few transactions: a handful of receipts a month. Many people therefore file on their own at first and bring in an accountant later.

Receipts in several currencies add complexity: turnover is counted in lari at the rate on the transaction date, and the conversion is done by hand.

Nil returns: months with no turnover

No income does not exempt you from reporting. If there were no receipts in a month, the declaration is still filed — just with zeros.

That applies to anyone who registered a business “for later” and has not started trading. While the status is active, the obligation to file stands.

Support for that kind of reporting is inexpensive: accounting in Georgia starts at $30 a month for a nil return from a sole trader with small business status.

When reporting gets harder in Georgia

Three situations change the picture:

1. 1Turnover passes GEL 100,000 over any continuous 12 months — VAT registration and VAT reporting become mandatory.
2. 2Employees appear — payroll calculations, timesheets and personnel documents are added.
3. 3You start dealing with Georgian counterparties — those transactions are documented differently from exported services.

In these cases filing on your own becomes risky: a mistake in a VAT return costs more than a month of an accountant's work. The expert quotes the price of full VAT reporting for your volume of transactions.

What happens if you miss the deadline in Georgia

The tax office charges interest for every day the tax is unpaid, and a separate fine applies for not filing. The amounts are calculated by the Revenue Service and visible in your account.

One detail for anyone working with an accountant: outsourcing contracts leave responsibility for delays caused by documents handed over late with the client. That is a standard clause, worth remembering when you send statements on the final day.

Backlogged reporting is fixed by restoring the records — separate work, and dearer than ordinary monthly support.

When the books go to an accountant

The sensible moment is when transactions pass a dozen a month, or when VAT or employees appear. Before that, filing yourself saves money and takes little time.

All work with an accountant happens remotely: access to the rs.ge account and document exchange are set up so that being in Georgia is unnecessary. That suits people who registered a business but live elsewhere.

If the business is not registered yet, the steps and timelines are set out in the service page for a sole trader in Georgia with small business status.

This article is for information only and is not legal advice. Requirements and fees change, so check the current conditions with a lawyer before you file: ask a question in a consultation.