The Republic of Georgia Free Industrial Zone (hereinafter “the FIZ”) is a Free Zone License provided in the Tax Code of Georgia where business-friendly regulations and favorable tax & customs regime apply. The FIZ is earmarked for economic activities and the companies operating therein are subject to a special regime, which is extremely favorable from a legal, financial and commercial point of view.

GEORGIA: NON-EU BUT RESPECTED. THE BIGGEST BENEFITS:

Accepted with clients due to Georgia’s fantastic reputation across the world.

Widely accepted with Electronic Money Issuers and Payment Services Providers.We alone maintain relationships with several EMIs which are regularly providing their services (SEPA and SWIFT payments) to Georgian established Free Zone Companies with Financial Licenses.

• NO PAID-UP CAPITAL REQUIREMENTS
• NO TAXATION ON CORPORATE PROFITS or the provided services itself
• WRITTEN APPROVAL AS (FREE ZONE FINANCIAL LICENSE ANNEX) TO PROVIDE EXPLICITLY CRYPTO RELATED SERVICES SUCH AS CRYPTO EXCHANGE / CRYPTO TRADING / PAYMENT PROCESSING / FUND MANAGEMENT / BROKERAGE AND FOREX TRADING TO THIRD PARTIES (EXCEPT GEORGIAN CUSTOMERS). CAN BE EXTENDED TO ELECTRONIC MONEY ISSUING / ICO LAUNCH ETC
• EASY AND UNCOMPLICATED TRANSFERS OF PROFITS TO OVERSEAS ENTITIES OR OTHER COMPANIES OUTSIDE THE EU - EVEN TO TAX EXEMPTED OFFSHORE TAX HAVENS
• QUICK APPROVAL TIMES OF LESS THAN ONE MONTH IN AVERAGE

Options to outsource processes from your EU or high-tax companies into the Georgian Free Zone Company. No costs for personal staff, no accounting costs, no quarterly and annual reportings to regulators Work in an autarc Free Zone Environment without facing regulator’s intervention (No market participant).

• 0% CORPORATE TAX, 0% TAX ON FINANCIAL PRODUCTS
• GEORGIAN FREE ZONE COMPANIES OPERATING ENTIRELY TAX EXEMPTED
• NO VAT OR SALES TAX ON FINANCIAL SERVICES / PRODUCTS / GOODS
• NO EXPENSIVE REPORTINGS, ACCOUNTINGS, TURNOVER CALCULATIONS NEEDED - SAVE YOUR BUDGET

Favorable Tax Regime:

The major advantage of FIZ which attracts business investments in Georgia and makes the jurisdiction appealing for doing business is the favorable tax and customs framework, which is as follows:

• FIZ incorporated entities are exempt from Property Tax;
• FIZ incorporated entities are exempt from Corporate Tax;
• Interest and Dividend paid by a FIZ company is not taxed and is not included in the taxable income base of the receiver;
• No VAT applies to the transactions carried out with foreign entities;
• No foreign exchange controls, trade barriers of quotas;
• No restrictions on capital repatriation;
• No income tax applicable;

Georgian Benefits

Applicants can benefit of some of the most liberal banking and e-money processing laws worldwide, especially in on-boarding foreign customers and payment flows

• Georgia is NOT member of the European Union but adapted certain parts of European regulation and legislation; but kept their own local laws in order to protect the domestic financial industry to avoid over-regulation
• Georgia is a not yet OECD Member, but filed Membership application
• Georgian banks are the most flexible in customer support, service, fees, compliance issues in the Middle East and Europe
• Banks are connected to the IBAN Network and fully SWIFT Members (no intermediary banks needed for your customers to send you funds!)
• Permission issuing authority is the Free Zone Authority
• Due its location Georgia is geo-strategically perfect to establish a business and connect East to West
• Georgia is attractive for European or in general worldwide incorporators and license obtainers.
• Georgia benefits of an excellent reputation as a modern financial marketplace, that allows even to serve offshore clients
• Minimum Requirements in office issues, directors and staff (you will benefit of very low on-going costs)
• Customers of your entity will enjoy a maximum of privacy - no regulated or automated data exchange of account holder data

General Information

• A company providing any kind of financial service to their customers can obtain the Free Zone Certificate for the dedicated business
  field.
• No restrictions whatsoever for dealing with customers in other countries
• FZE Companies are fully-exempt from the corporate tax which is 15% in the Republic of Georgia
• It is not mandatory to hold any kind of additional license from the National Bank of Georgia (their Central Bank) provided that its operations are conducted internationally and not within the Republic of Georgia

Preparing your corporate setup is the first step. Personal due diligence about applicants, name checks with the Georgian Registrar of Companies, acquisition of local office address, preparations of Power of Attorneys to our smart legal partners and the pre-checks with the Free Industrial Zone.

WHAT SERVICES CAN YOU OFFER ONLINE TO YOUR WORLDWIDE CLIENTELE?

The options and possibilities are endless. By rejecting Georgian clients and/or Georgian banks, but being fully licensed through a Georgian Free Zone, your entity won’t be recognized as a local Market Participant so as defined by the National Bank of Georgia as financial watch dog. This will result in extra flexibility, but still, you are able to provide your services online to a worldwide clientele, as long as you identify properly customers and have an AML / CFT Compliance Policy in place which we will arrange for you. The following services can be covered through Georgian Financial Free Zone Licenses:

• Exchange of virtual values against fiat/traditional currency (EUR,USD,GBP etc.) and vice versa
• Storage of virtual values on behalf of third parties
• Execution of orders on behalf of third parties, Reception and transmission of orders
• Portfolio management, Payment Processing and hosting e-wallets, Electronic Money Issuing
• ICO Launches, Token Sales, Hosting a Forex Trading or Crypto Trading Platform online
• Setting up own crypto portfolios, crypto funds

WHAT PERSONAL DOCUMENTS ARE REQUIRED?*

• Notarised and apostilled copy of your passport
• Notarised and apostilled Power of Attorney (for our legal partners)
• Simple Proof of address / email scan will suffice

CORPORATE APPLICATION DOCUMENTS (COME READY PRE-FILLED FOR SIGNATURE)

• Onboarding form: can be returned electronically signed to our email
• Due Diligence Questionnaire to be signed and returned via email
• Documents for license application and the Free Zone signed and returned via email
• AML / CFT Compliance Program as base for your business actions, to be signed and returned via email

NO PAID-UP CAPITAL NEEDED

All our Georgian solutions do not require any paid-up capital, regardless if Free Zone Company or onshore domestic company. Don’t stress your financial budget.

PAYMENT PROVIDERS AND CRYPTO EXCHANGERS

We are maintaining an extensive network of big players in the Fintech Industry. Benefit of it and become flexible and allow customers to fund their accounts and wallets with your institution by SEPA and/or SWIFT transfers. In addition, we may assist for a little surcharge in the opening of additional institutional accounts with the big market cryptocurrency market players such as Bittrex or Kraken.com.

FOR EU-CITIZENS: BECOME A GEORGIAN RESIDENT AND ENJOY FURTHER BENEFITS

Having a residence address outside the European Union and tax your income in a low-tax jurisdiction may be one advantage. But, by far the biggest benefit is, that Georgia is not Member State of the EU, is not participating on CRS - Common Reporting Standard (automated data exchange between financial institutions and your tax authority). You will gain financial freedom, feel less monitored, less transparent and controlled. Gain back a big peace of freedom back, what EEA-residents have lost long time ago. You will also receive a TIN (Tax Identification Number) which can be used for bank account openings outside Georgia, wherever you wish. Talk to us - our legal partners will offer this service at special rates to all of our existing customers.