Hello, I am Guray Web Pro. Today I put together a travel guide about setting up a small business or Individual Entrepreneurship (IE) in Georgia. It has been two to three months since I registered my company and visited Georgia, so here is what has changed in my life.

Some payment providers such as PayPal and Wise either do not operate in my home country or have pulled back because of currency fluctuations. On top of that, my home country’s tax system is complicated, and between accounting fees and tax line items I was losing almost half of my freelance income. That is when I decided to open an IE in Georgia, and it worked. I have already filed the closure notice for my sole proprietorship back home and I am paying off its remaining debts. I do not plan to bring freelance income back there again, and I barely look back.

A 20 percent income tax cannot even be compared to a 1 percent turnover tax. There are also no fixed taxes here. In my home country, stamp duty and similar tax line items I can barely pronounce eat up a large share of an already modest freelance income. So I felt like making this trip, partly for business and partly as a holiday. If you want to plan a similar trip, here is what you will need so you do not overspend the way I did.

What Georgia does not have (know this before you go)

  • No Stripe in Georgia. Some AI platforms that verify payment through Stripe may also give you trouble setting up a payment link.
  • Android developers, take note. Play Store merchant payouts cannot be deposited directly into a Georgian bank account. I am not sure whether Payoneer or AirTM style accounts work now, but if I ever need to withdraw, I would rather send it to my personal bank account back home.
  • Platforms like PayPal can have unexplained bank deductions, but that seems to be true everywhere, and it is basically standard practice in my home country too, so it never bothered me.

Day-by-day itinerary

Before you fly

  1. Get a Georgian number eSIM, If your phone supports eSIM.
  2. You may not need to activate an eSIM before departure. It typically activates once you land, and re-entry does not trigger another activation fee.
  3. If it does not activate, topping up about 10 GEL on Magticom usually fixes it. You will want this working anyway, since the tax portal (rs.ge) sends verification messages you may need even outside Georgia.
  4. Pick a numbering tier carefully. A free or lowest-tier number can fail verification on services like Google (Admob was the specific pain point for the author). A low but paid tier number tends to pass. Also note: Admob’s minimum payout threshold in Georgia is around 70 euros, which is meaningfully higher than in some countries, so budget accordingly if your app revenue is modest.

eSIM and local SIM options, compare before you commit:

  • Cellfie (formerly Beeline Georgia): local operator, eSIM purchasable online or in shops and at the airport, tourist SIMs from about 7 GEL for 7 days. cellfie.ge/en/esim
  • Magticom: widely recommended for raw internet speed and coverage, unlimited data plans available, but free tier numbers can fail some app verifications.

Day 1: Arrival

  1. Land at Tbilisi International Airport.
  2. If you are arriving outside normal working hours and can spend a bit more, book a Bolt ride from the app rather than dealing with airport taxi touts. They are friendly but tend to add extra charges, though even the inflated price is often still cheaper per kilometer than back home.
  3. If you want to save money and it is daytime, tap a contactless Mastercard on the airport bus into the city center for about 2 GEL. If the reader beeps, you are fine.
  4. If a transport card is available at the airport, buy one and pay 1 GEL to bus, it can be worth it, though it was sold out when the author arrived.
  5. Check into your hotel.

Getting into the city, pick what suits your budget:

  • Bolt ride share: convenient after hours, small markup over a metered taxi.
  • Airport taxi desk: negotiate, still often cheaper per kilometer than taxis in Western Europe.
  • Airport shuttle bus with contactless card: about 2 GEL, the cheapest option.

Where to stay

This guide covers Tbilisi only, since the author has not yet visited Batum or Kutaisi. Book through a travel agency you already trust if possible, since agency discounts often do not apply once you show up at the front desk in person. Try to avoid end of spring and peak summer season, both for pricing and for pollen (see below). Expect to pay roughly 50 to 70 GEL a night for a mid-low-range hotel outside high season. Try to pick a place with modernity, since much of Georgia’s building stock is older and charmingly worn, you will get plenty of authentic atmosphere just walking around the city.

Hotel and hostel options in Tbilisi:

  • Fabrika Hostel & Suites: a converted Soviet sewing factory in Old Tbilisi with a large co-working courtyard, cafes, and a genuinely social, sometimes noisy, atmosphere. Good if you tend to stay up late and want an authentic work-and-socialize space. hostelfabrika.com or via Booking.com, Hostelworld, or Tripadvisor
  • Mid-range hotels booked through a known travel agency: better rates than walk-in, especially outside summer season.
  • Marjanishvili and old Tbilisi guesthouses: central, walkable, traditional Georgian restaurant streets nearby.

A seasonal warning: avoid visiting during pollen season if you are at all sensitive. Long pine trees blanket the city in pollen roughly from April through June according to most sources. The author did not struggle much visiting in April on the first trip, but found it rougher on a later visit.

Day 1 continued: Registering your address and company

  1. Georgia requires a registered address to set up your IE. You will learn what counts as a valid address once you reach the Public Service Hall.
  2. You may see people outside the hall waving business cards and shouting “address, address.” The author found this a bit sketchy and rented a virtual office through Regus instead.
  3. Regus has a fairly strict payment schedule. Miss it by about two months and you get a warning at the door, by the third month it can escalate into a legal matter. The author paid two months upfront and has had no issues since, and can also use Regus lounges back home as a member benefit.
  4. Confirm your address, either someone accompanies you to verify it, or the property owner confirms a cadastral code online. Bring your phone, your passport, and a modest registration fee around 60 GEL.
  5. Head to the Public Service Hall the same day if you can.
  6. Take a queue number. Say clearly that you want to register an “Individual Entrepreneurship” or “Small Business,” otherwise a language mix-up can cost you time.
  7. If staff understand your request, registration can take well under 30 minutes. Pay the fee, get your credentials, and you are done.

Virtual office and co-working alternatives to an “address” service:

  • Regus, Freedom Square (Tabidze 1 Building): prestigious central address near the Parliament and Liberty Square metro. regus.ge/en-ge/virtual-office/georgia/tbilisi/tbilisi-freedom-square
  • Regus, Saburtalo Vazha-Pshavela (BCV): cheaper commercial district option, still central, popular with locals working near home around 100 USD a month for a virtual office in this guide’s experience. regus.com/en/ge/tbilisi/virtual-offices
  • Davinci Virtual, Tabidze 1 Building: a reseller offering the same Freedom Square virtual address plus mail handling add-ons. davincivirtual.com
  • Fabrika co-working space: if you are already staying there, its on-site co-working desks double as a workspace, worth checking whether they also support address registration.

Day 1 or 2: Opening a bank account

  1. Go to the bank the same day if your Public Service Hall visit went smoothly.
  2. Bank of Georgia and TBC Bank are the two most foreigner-friendly options, with English-speaking staff at central branches.
  3. Bank of Georgia’s KYC process took about a week online for the author, while TBC approved an account within a day after filling out forms in person.
  4. Credobank charged a 100 GEL account opening fee in this guide’s experience and was not worth pursuing, especially since a small business does not need a credit line.
  5. If you are a freelance developer with clients mainly in the US, UK, or New Zealand, say so clearly on the form, it tends to smooth things along.
  6. Bring a long-validity passport if you can. A short passport validity means redoing your bank and company registration when it is renewed, a mistake the author made with a 6-month passport.

Important update for 2026: since March 2026, opening a business account as an Individual Entrepreneur may also require a labour permit document link, according to recent guides. Though Latest news are mentioning it is now not needed for expats working for non-resident clients.

Bank options for an IE account, worth comparing:

  • Bank of Georgia: generally considered the fastest for approvals once KYC clears, central branches like Pushkin Street handle foreign applicants regularly.
  • TBC Bank: offers online pre-registration for foreign nationals before your branch visit, which speeds up the in-person step, subscription tiers run from roughly 2 to 16 GEL a month. tbcbank.ge/en/for-expats
  • Credobank: workable but charged a noticeable account-opening fee in this guide’s experience, less suited to expats who do not want a credit relationship.

Practical extras once you land

  • Buy electronics or anything cheaper here than at home, and claim the VAT refund on departure.
  • If you drink wine, buy some duty-free within customs limits, Georgia has an 8,000-year wine tradition worth taking home a bottle of.
  • Tap water is generally drinkable if the plumbing is not ancient and you do not mind a slightly mineral taste.
  • Soft drinks and others are cheap at Spar and Nabiji supermarkets. Skip imported snacks like chips, which can be oddly expensive, and buy fresh pastries from a local bakery instead.
  • If you avoid pork, be careful, processed meats in supermarkets are almost always pork, and lamb and pork can get mixed up on menus.
  • Kutaisi is recommended by other travelers as a worthwhile add-on for a future trip.

Ongoing: monthly tax filing

A small IE generally does not need an accountant. On the 15th of each month, log into the tax portal, rs.ge, and file the previous month’s withholding declaration. If you earned 0 GEL, you file 0 GEL and owe nothing. Keep Google Translate open while filling out the form. The author has not yet incurred a late penalty in two to three months of operating, and suspects any penalty would still be cheaper than hiring an accountant.

rs.ge tax portal: rs.ge

Quick reference: what to line up before and during the trip

  1. Georgian eSIM or SIM
  2. Hotel booked
  3. Passport with several years of validity remaining.
  4. A virtual office or address provider chosen in advance
  5. A same-day plan to hit the Public Service Hall and a bank in one trip if your documents are ready.
  6. Google Translate installed, Google maps offline downloaded, for navigation, bureaucracy and grocery labels.

Note: hours, fees, and account-opening requirements in Georgia change fairly often, including added and removed special labour permit need for IE business accounts link. Confirm current rules directly with the Public Service Hall, your chosen bank, and your virtual office provider before booking travel.