Cryptocurrency tax in Georgia

Buying, holding and selling crypto for one’s own account is generally not prohibited in Georgia. A virtual asset is not legal tender, however, and providing exchange, transfer, custody or other virtual-asset services for another person requires NBG registration.

What is legal?

Personal investment, use of an NBG-registered VASP and mining with lawfully obtained electricity are generally lawful. A Georgian business may not normally accept virtual assets as payment for ordinary goods or services, except for narrow NBG-defined cases needed for virtual-asset services.

Tax

Under Ministry of Finance Public Ruling No. 201, income earned by an individual from supplying their own crypto asset is treated as non-Georgian-source and exempt from Georgian personal income tax. Exchanging crypto into fiat is not subject to VAT. This does not automatically exempt client-service fees or corporate profit.

A company must account for transactions and retain wallet records, transaction hashes, GEL values and costs. Hash-power VAT treatment depends on where the recipient is established; an overseas recipient can place the service outside Georgian VAT, while a Georgian recipient may make it taxable. Reverse-charge issues may arise on imported hash power.

When is VASP registration required?

Exchange, transfer, custody, individual portfolio management, trading-platform administration, crypto lending and ICO services performed for another person require registration. Ordinary company registration is insufficient.

Illegal conduct

Unregistered VASP activity, prohibited crypto payments, money laundering, sanctions evasion, fraud/Ponzi schemes, wallet theft, false KYC, unlicensed financial products, tax falsification and electricity theft are unlawful. A token may also trigger securities, e-money, fund or stablecoin rules based on substance.