Technology in Georgia: Virtual Zone, International Company, and setting up

The two regimes answer different companies. Virtual Zone status exempts profit from IT created in Georgia and sold abroad, with no salary relief and a strict substance test. International Company status taxes profit and salaries at 5% and dividends at zero, needs two years of experience, and suits a company with a real payroll in Tbilisi. Many groups run one of each.

Setting up is fast: an LLC in a day, no minimum capital, 100% foreign ownership. The slow part is the bank account, where non-resident owners face enhanced checks and one to four weeks. Accounting is monthly and in Georgian, so a local accountant comes with the company.

Talent is the reason to be here rather than to invoice from here. Tbilisi has a growing pool of engineers at costs well below the EU, and the regimes reward putting them on a Georgian payroll. A company that keeps its developers abroad and routes revenue through Georgia should expect the Revenue Service to look closely.

What we check

• Which regime fits the business, on the real pattern of clients and staff.
• Substance: payroll, premises, decisions in Georgia.
• Intellectual property ownership and the contracts with clients abroad.
• Banking: the account opened and tested before the first invoice.

What an introduction gets you

• One introduction to an accountant or law firm that files Virtual Zone and International Company applications every week.
• Company formation, bank account and the first filings, sequenced so nothing waits on anything else.
• For investors in Georgian tech companies: founders and funds we have met, shared with the Circle first.