Georgia's 1% tax route for remote workers, and its limits

If you are researching Georgia as a remote-work base, the first thing to understand is that there is no classic digital-nomad visa. The route most remote workers actually use is visa-free entry and a stay of up to one full year (365 days) for citizens of around 94 listed countries under Government Ordinance No 255, during which remote work for foreign clients is permitted in practice. The COVID-era “Remotely from Georgia” permit (which required a minimum of USD 2,000 a month plus 6-month insurance) is being phased out now that borders are open, so the visa-free year is the operative route.

That changes how you should think about the often-quoted “1% tax.” It is a separate, optional layer you opt into, not a visa benefit. And it has real limits.

How the 1% turnover tax actually works

The headline figure is genuine but narrow. For tax efficiency, remote workers often register as an Individual Entrepreneur with Small Business Status through the Revenue Service, which taxes 1% on turnover up to GEL 500,000 a year. The 1% rate applies to turnover up to that ceiling, so it is best read as a capped preferential rate rather than an unconditional flat rate; the official sources do not spell out the treatment of turnover above the ceiling.

The eligibility quirk that catches people: consulting, legal, and medical work, plus licensed activities, are excluded from the 1% regime. Many remote workers describe themselves as “consultants,” and on that wording they may not qualify for the rate they came for. The published rules do not spell out exactly how Georgia classifies every borderline freelance activity, so treat the 1% as something to confirm for your specific work rather than assume.

Georgia’s tax treatment is territorial. Foreign-source income of residents is exempt, and only Georgian-source income is taxed. You become a Georgian tax resident after 183 or more days in any continuous 12-month period. That 183-day trigger matters because it is a different threshold from the immigration one: the visa-free stay can run up to 365 days, but the tax-residency clock turns over at 183 days in any continuous 12-month period. Both numbers are official, but the rules do not set out how they interact in any given itinerary, so treat the immigration limit and the residency trigger as two separate thresholds to plan around.

What the official rules leave open

There is no statutory minimum income and no proof-of-funds requirement for visa-free entry. No official monthly income figure is published, so we cannot quote one, and you should not infer one from the old USD 2,000 permit, which is being retired.

On insurance, nothing is legally required for plain visa-free entry. But it is advisable: foreigners have no access to Georgia’s public health programme, so travel or international health cover for the full stay is strongly recommended. No minimum coverage amount is specified.

A few process points are also undocumented: there is no listed application fee, processing time, or maximum total stay for the visa-free route. There is only an indirect path to permanent residence, and no path to citizenship through this route.

Bottom line

We rate this medium-confidence: several specifics, including the exact scope of the 1% exclusions, sit at the edge of what the official sources state plainly. Treat the visa-free year and the 1% status as two separate decisions, and verify the activity exclusion before counting on the rate.