The 183-day rule for Georgian tax residency

The rule in the Tax Code

The test is in Art. 34(2) of the Tax Code of Georgia. A natural person (an individual, as opposed to a company) is resident for the entire current tax year if they "actually stayed in the territory of Georgia for 183 or more days in any continuous 12-calendar-month period ending in that tax year". A person abroad in Georgian public service is also resident.

Three parts of this wording matter:

• The period is any 12 months in a row. It does not have to start on 1 January.
• The period must end in the tax year you are asking about.
• Once you pass the test, you are resident for that entire tax year, including the months before you arrived.

How a day is counted

Art. 34(5) counts a day as a day in Georgia "irrespective of the length of the stay". So a few hours in Georgia count the same as a full day. Your arrival day and your departure day both count.

For example, you land in Tbilisi in the evening and leave three days later in the morning. That stay gives you four days toward the 183.

Days abroad that count as days in Georgia

Art. 34(3) says time spent outside Georgia "specifically for treatment, leisure, business trip or education" counts as actual stay in Georgia. The Tax Code does not say in this article what evidence the Revenue Service, the state tax office, expects for such trips. Keep records of why you travelled if you plan to rely on this rule.

Days in Georgia that do not count

Art. 34(4) lists time in Georgia that is not counted:

1. Time with diplomatic or consular status, or as a family member of such a person.
2. Time as an employee of an international organisation acting under an international agreement of Georgia, or in a foreign state's public service, or as a family member of such a person. This exclusion does not apply to Georgian citizens.
3. Time in transit between two foreign countries.
4. Time in Georgia "for treatment or leisure".

The open question on leisure stays

Point 4 above is the one that matters for most foreigners. On its plain wording, a stay in Georgia that is purely for leisure does not count toward the 183 days. Many people come to Georgia on a visa-free stay, which looks like a tourist stay on paper. For the visa-free rules, see visa-free stay in Georgia.

How the 12 months are chosen in practice

The law firm REVERA reports that, when you apply on the basis of 183 days, the Revenue Service counts 12 months back from the date of your application. Its example: an application on 12 August 2024 covers 12 August 2023 to 12 August 2024. This is a secondary source. We did not find it in an official Revenue Service document.

According to advisory sources, the Revenue Service relies mainly on border-crossing records to check your days. Entry and exit stamps and travel records are still worth keeping. The tax residency certificate page covers the application itself.

Residency is set one tax period at a time

Art. 34(8) says days already used to make you resident in one tax period are not counted again for the next period. You cannot use one long stay to become resident in two tax years. You need to meet the test again for each year.

Other ways to be resident

The 183-day test is the main route, but it is not the only one:

• A high net worth individual can be granted residency under Art. 34(6) without the day count. See the high net worth individual route.
• A Georgian citizen whose residency cannot be established in any country is deemed resident on application (Art. 34(6^1)).
• The Minister of Finance may define further cases and a procedure for granting residency to a foreign individual (Art. 34(6^2)).

Do not confuse this with the immigration day rules

Some residence permits have their own 183-day rule, and it works the other way. The IT residence permit ends if the holder is outside Georgia for 183 days or more in any 12 consecutive months. The study permit has a similar rule. These rules come from the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons, not the Tax Code. Meeting one does not mean you meet the other. For permit types, see our residency guide.

Holding a residence permit also does not count as days in Georgia. Only days you are physically present (or abroad for the reasons in Art. 34(3)) count for tax.