Georgia tax residency: the 183-day rule and what it means for apartment owners
You become a Georgian tax resident by spending 183 days in the country in any 12 consecutive months. A passport or an apartment does not make you one. Georgian tax on the rent applies either way; residency decides whether another country taxes that rent too.
Taxes · 4 min read
Owning an apartment in Tbilisi or Batumi does not make you a Georgian tax resident. Time in the country does. For a landlord, residency barely changes the tax you pay in Georgia on rent. What it changes is whether a second country taxes the same income.
The 183-day rule
Article 34 of Georgia's Tax Code: an individual is a Georgian resident for the entire tax year if they were physically in Georgia for 183 days or more in any continuous 12-month period ending in that year.
Three details people tend to miss:
| Point | How it works |
|---|---|
| What counts as a day | Any day you were in Georgia, however many hours. Arrival and departure days count |
| Which 12 months | Any 12 consecutive months, not the calendar year. July to June works |
| How long status lasts | The whole tax year, from January 1, not from day 184 |
Example: you land in Tbilisi on July 1, 2025 and stay through December 31, 2026. You pass 183 days before the end of 2025, so you are a resident for all of 2025. Days already counted for 2025 are not counted again for 2026, but you spend all of 2026 in Georgia, so residency continues.
There is a second route: high net worth individual status, also under Article 34. It does not require 183 days, but the asset and income thresholds are high and are set by a separate order. Check the current conditions with the Revenue Service of Georgia.
What residency changes for an apartment owner
| Tax | Georgian resident | Nonresident |
|---|---|---|
| Long-term residential rent | 5% of rental income, no deductions | Georgian-source rent is taxed too. Sources do not say explicitly whether the 5% rate applies to nonresidents; confirm with the Revenue Service |
| Short-term rentals | Fixed tax while turnover does not exceed ₾100,000 over 12 months; regime extended to January 1, 2028 | Same registration rules |
| Selling the apartment | 0% if held more than 2 years; otherwise 5% of the gain | The rule follows the property and the holding period, not your passport |
| Property tax | None if family income last year was ₾100,000 or less (Law 1874, September 30, 2026). Above that, 0.8% to 1% of value | The threshold is based on family income; confirm how it applies to nonresidents |
| Income from other countries | Not taxed in Georgia (PwC) | Not taxed in Georgia |
The last row is the one that matters. Georgian taxes on a Georgian apartment apply either way. Residency decides whether another country also treats you as its taxpayer.
Where double taxation starts
If you are a tax resident somewhere else, that country may tax your worldwide income, Batumi rent included. A double tax treaty usually solves this: the tax paid in Georgia is credited at home.
Georgia has 58 such treaties, according to its Ministry of Finance, including with Kazakhstan, Israel, Ukraine, Germany, Spain, France, Austria, the UAE and the UK. There is no treaty with Russia. The Ministry's list does not include the United States either, but the IRS still treats the old U.S.-U.S.S.R. income tax treaty as applying to Georgia. If you are a US or Russian tax resident, check how your home country credits the Georgian tax before you count on it.
To use a treaty, the other country usually asks for a certificate of tax residence. In Georgia it is issued by the Revenue Service; check the procedure, timing and fee on rs.ge before you apply.
A four-step check
- Count your days in Georgia in any 12 consecutive months, using passport stamps and tickets.
- Decide which country you will be a tax resident of while you own the apartment. If you are moving, both.
- Check whether that country has a treaty with Georgia.
- Run the numbers with both countries' taxes, not just "5% in Georgia".
How Levelvale handles it
In the full analysis you choose your country of tax residence, and the calculator adds its tax on top of Georgia's. If we have not set up a rate for your country yet, the calculator says so instead of quietly using zero. For how the two countries interact, see Rental tax and tax residency in Georgia.
FAQ
I bought an apartment in Tbilisi. Am I a Georgian tax resident now? No. Residency comes from days spent in the country, not from owning property.
I am a US citizen living in Georgia for more than 183 days. Where do I pay tax on rent? In Georgia as a resident. The US taxes its citizens on worldwide income wherever they live, so the same rent is reported in the US as well; ask a US tax adviser how the Georgian tax is credited.
Will I owe tax if I sell after three years? Under the Tax Code of Georgia, the sale of an apartment held more than two years is exempt unless it is part of a business. Neither owning several apartments nor the length of ownership on its own turns a sale into a business (Public Ruling No. 175 of the Minister of Finance, June 8, 2026).
Run the numbers with both countries' taxes. Enter your price and rent in the calculator below, and add your country of tax residence in the full analysis.
Try the calculator with this property's numbers
The same calculator as on our home page. Change any number and the result updates.
This is a general explanation, not tax advice. Rules change; facts checked November 2, 2026.
REAL ESTATE I YIELD I TAXES · Levelvale
Sources
- Tax Code of Georgia, Article 34 (Matsne) · 2026-11-02
- PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries: Georgia, Individual, Residence · 2026-09-02
- PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries: Georgia, Individual, Income determination · 2026-09-02
- Law No. 1874 amending the Tax Code of Georgia (Matsne) · 2026-09-30
- Law No. 1061 amending the Tax Code of Georgia (Matsne) · 2025-11-12
- Public Ruling No. 175 of the Minister of Finance of Georgia (Matsne) · 2026-06-08
- IRS: Table 3, List of Tax Treaties (U.S.-U.S.S.R. treaty applies to Georgia) · 2025-09-26
- Ministry of Finance of Georgia: double tax treaties · 2026-11-02
This is a calculation, not investment, tax or legal advice.
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