Georgia Cryptocurrency Laws Regulation of Digital Currencies: Cryptocurrency, Bitcoins, Blockchain Technology
Georgia is among one of the top cryptocurrency countries in the world; it does not have any legislative restrictions for crypto exchange and, to date, does not require any license for such activity.[1] Also, Georgia provides a high tax certainty and beneficial tax system for businesses involved in the crypto field. It has been estimated by the World Bank in 2018 that at least 200,000 people in Georgia are involved in currency mining.[2]
The significant influence of this sector on the country’s economy has led to the fact that on June 28, 2019, the Minister of Finance of Georgia, Nodar Khaduri, signed a bill on taxation of crypto currency.[3] The bill includes the following:
individuals in Georgia are exempt from income tax on any profit received from the sale of crypto currency;
the sale of the crypto currency or its exchange for Lari or other currency is not subject to VAT (applies to transactions between legal entities and individuals);
The sale of computing power (hash) from Georgia abroad is not subject to VAT. In addition, individuals and legal entities retain the right to input VAT;
The sale of computing power (hash) within the territory of Georgia (between residents) is subject to VAT;
a hash purchase by a Georgian resident abroad is subject to VAT.
Most jurisdictions and authorities have yet to enact laws governing cryptocurrencies, meaning that, for most countries, the legality of crypto mining remains unclear.
Under the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), crypto miners are considered money transmitters, so they may be subject to the laws that govern that activity. In Israel, for instance, crypto mining is treated as a business and is subject to corporate income tax. In India and elsewhere, regulatory uncertainty persists, although Canada and the United States are relatively friendly to crypto mining.
However, apart from jurisdictions that have specifically banned cryptocurrency-related activities, very few countries prohibit crypto mining.
Our Freeman Law Cryptocurrency Law Resource page provides a summary of the legal status of cryptocurrency for each country across the globe with statutory or regulatory provisions governing cryptocurrency. The globe below provides links to country-by-country summaries:
[1] Gela Barshovi, Insight: Taxation of Cryptocurrency in Georgia, Bloomberg, (Dec. 16, 2019), https://news.bloombergtax.com/daily-tax-report-international/insight-taxation-of-cryptocurrency-in-georgia.
[2] Irina Lopatina, Georgia: Features of Taxation of Crypto Currency in Georgia in 2020, Mondaq, (April 06, 2020), https://www.mondaq.com/fin-tech/912924/features-of-taxation-of-crypto-currency-in-georgia-in-2020.
