Who should incorporate in Georgia?
Georgia has become one of Europe’s quieter onshore jurisdictions of choice for digital businesses since 2020. The combination of full foreign ownership, an Estonian-style 15% Corporate Income Tax model that taxes only distributed profit, a 1% turnover regime for solo founders under 500,000 GEL/year, and a wide double-tax treaty network is unusual. Other jurisdictions have one or two of those traits; few have all of them.
The foreign-founder profiles we see most often:
- Solo digital founders moving from a high-tax EU jurisdiction to the 1% Small Business Status regime.
- Two-to-five-person SaaS teams wanting a Georgian operating subsidiary under a Delaware or Estonian holding company.
- High-net-worth familiesestablishing Georgian tax residency under the High Net Worth Individual programme to access Georgia’s wide treaty network.
- Remote-first agencies consolidating invoicing through a Georgian LLC for treaty-shopping–resistant cross-border billing.
Which company structures are available to foreigners?
Three structures account for almost every foreign-founder incorporation. Foreign ownership is unrestricted in all three — no local partner, local director, or nominee is required by Georgian law[2].
1. Limited Liability Company (LLC, “შპს”)
The default for any business with two or more founders, any business that intends to hire employees, and any business that needs to take external investment. The LLC is a separate legal entity, foreign ownership is unrestricted, and shareholder liability is capped at contributed capital.
Tax treatment:15% Corporate Income Tax on distributed profit only — the “Estonian model” that Georgia adopted in 2017[1]. Reinvested profit pays no CIT until eventually distributed, which lets a reinvesting business compound capital tax-free.
2. Individual Entrepreneur with Small Business Status
The right structure for single-founder digital businesses with revenue under 500,000 GEL/year (~$185,000). Registration is fast — often same-day at the Public Service Hall — and the tax treatment of 1% on turnover is dramatically more efficient than either the standard IE or an LLC at typical solo-founder revenue[1].
Caveat: the IE isthe founder — there is no separate legal entity, no liability shield, no shareholding to dilute. Some service categories (notably consulting characterised as “personal services”) are excluded from the 1% rate and pay 3% inside the regime.
Read the Small Business Status deep-dive →
3. Standard Individual Entrepreneur (without SBS)
Same sole-trader structure as Small Business Status, but without the 1% election. Income is taxed at the flat 20% Personal Income Tax rate[1]. Used when revenue is expected to exceed 500,000 GEL/year and you don’t (yet) want to incorporate as an LLC, when the activity is excluded from SBS, or when transitioning from SBS to an LLC mid-year.