Virtual Zone status
Virtual Zone status in Georgia: 0% profit tax on exported IT services, for companies that really build software
A Georgian LLC with Virtual Zone Person status pays no corporate profit tax on IT services supplied outside Georgia, and exported IT services are outside Georgian VAT. Dividends carry 5% withholding. The status is granted on application, tested on substance and can be reviewed. Trustlex tells you first whether your activity qualifies, then forms the company and files the application with the evidence that carries it.
This route fits you if
- Your company develops software or IT products, rather than reselling or advising on them.
- Your clients are outside Georgia.
- The development happens in the company: your own developers, or contractors it directs, and you can show it.
- You reinvest profit and distribute later, so a 0% profit tax and 5% on dividends is the right shape.
Take another route if
- You resell software, run IT consulting or provide support without development. The status rewards development activity; a standard LLC is the honest answer. Standard LLC
- Your clients are mainly in Georgia: Georgian-source income is taxed normally, and the regime is built for exports.
- You are relocating a team and want reduced payroll tax: International Company Status is designed for that, with a track record and real presence required. Compare the two regimes
- You work alone and bill in your own name: the status is for companies. The 1% regime may fit. See the 1% route
Itemised
What a Virtual Zone company costs
Both the company and the status have a fixed price. The written assessment comes first, so you never pay for an application that cannot succeed.
| LLC formationService fee; the state fee (GEL 200 standard track, GEL 400 same-day) and the remote lines are itemised on the company registration page | From €400 |
| Virtual Zone eligibility assessment, stage 1A written answer on activity, client geography, where the development happens and what can be evidenced; paid first, and the only charge if the answer is negative | €150 |
| Virtual Zone status application, stage 2Evidence file, application and correspondence with the authority to decision; payable only after a positive assessment. 18% VAT applies to each stage | €450 |
| Registered address with mail scanningOptional; a Georgian address in active use is part of substance | €240 / year |
| Monthly bookkeepingA Virtual Zone company still files monthly | From €110 / month |
Prices from the Trustlex price list of 2026-10-14.1. The status carries no state fee of its own; the cost is the evidence and the application work. Nobody can promise the status: the Financial-Analytical Service of the Ministry of Finance grants it, and the Revenue Service tests the exemption afterwards.
How it works
- 1
Eligibility assessment
A 30-minute call and a short questionnaire: what you build, where it is built, who your clients are and how the money flows. You get a written answer on whether the activity qualifies and what the evidence file must contain.
- 2
Company formation, or review of the one you have
A new LLC is formed at the fixed price. An existing company is reviewed for ownership, activity code and documents before anything is filed.
- 3
The evidence file
Contracts or letters of intent with foreign clients, the development team and its location, ownership of the code, the invoicing flow. This is what the authority tests and what a later review will ask for again.
- 4
Application
Filed with the responsible authority, with the correspondence handled by Trustlex until the decision.
- 5
After the status
Monthly filings continue, exported IT invoices are issued outside VAT, dividends are distributed at 5%, and the substance is kept documented so the status survives a review.
What you need
- A description of the product and of how development is organised
- Client list or pipeline with countries
- Contracts, letters of intent or invoices with foreign clients
- Who develops (employees or contractors) and where they work
- Company documents, if the LLC already exists
Neither the Virtual Zone nor International Company status attaches automatically at registration. Each is applied for and granted on real activity. Since September 2025 neither can be held together with innovative startup status: whichever status is granted later ends the earlier one.
Questions about Virtual Zone status
What exactly is exempt?
Profit from IT services supplied outside Georgia is generally exempt from corporate profit tax. Dividend withholding, usually 5%, applies when profit is distributed to owners.
What about VAT?
Exported IT services are typically outside the scope of Georgian VAT. Services supplied to Georgian customers follow the normal rules.
Is the status automatic when I register an IT company?
No. It is applied for after registration, granted to companies that genuinely create IT products, and it can be reviewed later against the same evidence.
What does substance mean in practice?
That the development activity is real and documented: who writes the code, where, under which contracts, for which foreign clients. An address and a director alone are not substance.
Virtual Zone or International Company Status?
Virtual Zone suits newer and smaller exporters and is lighter to obtain. International Company Status reduces corporate and payroll rates for established operations with a track record and a real local team, and is more demanding to obtain and keep.
How long does the application take?
The Law on Information Technology Zones gives the authority ten working days from the application to grant the status and two more to issue the certificate, at the time of writing; what takes the time is building the file before the application. Trustlex does not promise a date and does not promise the outcome; it promises a file that answers the questions the authority asks.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Fees reflect the Trustlex price list of 2026-10-14.1; rates, thresholds and registry practice reflect September 2026 and change. The route for your case is confirmed by a lawyer at review.
Read before you start
Find out if you qualify before you pay for anything
Book the eligibility call. If the activity does not qualify, you will hear it in that call, together with the route that does.