Property taxes in Georgia

The tax burden on a homeowner in Georgia is low, and property tax itself has a threshold: if your household income for the previous year did not exceed 40,000 GEL, you do not pay it at all. Non-residents are taxed under the same rules as citizens.

Property tax: threshold and rates

The obligation arises only if household income for the previous year exceeded 40,000 GEL. Below that threshold no property tax is due.

For income between 40,000 and 100,000 GEL the rate falls between 0.05% and 0.2% of the value of the property. Above 100,000 GEL it runs from 0.8% to 1%. The exact rate within those bands is set by the municipality; the ceiling is 1% in any case.

The base is the market value of the property at the end of the previous year, whether or not it generates income. Land tax is calculated separately and does not depend on income.

The payment deadline is 15 November. Late payment accrues penalties, so owners living outside Georgia are wise to keep that date in the calendar or delegate the payment.

Tax on rental income

For an individual the standard regime is 5% of gross income, with no deduction of expenses. It applies to long-term and short-term letting alike. The alternative is the general 20% regime with expenses deductible, which makes sense when costs are high.

The rate does not depend on your residency: the income is treated as Georgian-source because the property is here.

Tax on sale

If the property was held for less than two years, the gain on sale is taxed at 5%. Held for more than two years, it is exempt.

That makes the two-year mark a natural planning point: selling a few months early costs 5% of the gain.

What Georgia does not levy

There is no transfer tax and no stamp duty — the buyer pays the state no percentage of the price. There is no annual land tax on the plot under an apartment for an individual. This is why the total cost of holding property here is markedly lower than in most European jurisdictions.