The ease of doing business in Georgia has become widely known. Georgia has low tax rates, corruption is no longer a challenge. Hereafter, most of the services can be delivered electronically, which makes the country a desired destination for starting and simply doing business and using Georgian bank accounts for that purpose. But the question arises, is it possible to start a business in the country of Georgia without even traveling there? In this article we will provide a detailed guide on the proceedings of starting, registering and doing your business in Georgia remotely.
Steps of Starting a business in Georgia
First step on your way of starting a business in Georgia should be the search of the legal entities and choosing the best option for your business. However, The most popular form for investors is LLC which stands for Limited Liability Company. Although there are many forms and legal forms suggested by Georgian legislature.
Second step is registering your business. Since the topic of the article is to explain the possibilities of starting a business remotely, We will focus on that.
Is it possible to register your business in Georgia remotely?
Registering a Limited Liability Company is relatively easy compared to other European countries. Georgia does not restrict the ability of registering the company based on nationality as well.
The state authority registering the legal entities and LLC included, is Public Service Hall. For the entity registration, you should refer to any branch of Public Service Hall or any territorial office of the National Agency of Public Registry and submit the application.
Fortunately, Yes. it is possible to register your company without personal presence: you can issue your trusted person with a power of attorney to be your representative and take all the actions needed.
The registry is accomplished at the same day of application or within one working day by your choice : service fee for the registration to be accomplished on the same day is 226 GEL and within 1 workday costs 126 GEL paid at the public service hall in any of the Georgian cities.
Is it possible to issue a power of attorney remotely?
According to the Notary Chamber of Georgia, Georgia is the only country in the world, where notary services are performed on-line. So, the answer is yes. However, all the services are not accessible for foreigners. Online (skype) services are available for any citizen of Georgia or persons holding a temporary residency permit in the country. But this doesn’t exclude the possibility of receiving the notary services while you are abroad.
The way out of the situation is issuing the power of attorney to your trusted person in your country of residency and sending the Power of Attorney Apostilled/legalized and notarized in your country by post as well as a notarized copy of the passport of the future owner/director of the company.
Holding the power of attorney, your trusted person will have to translate, Apostle/legalize, and notarize it in Georgia. After that, the person becomes your lawful representative here in Georgia and has all the power given by you to start the business under your name.
Documents you need to remotely register your company
Even when your trustee registers the company, there is a following list of documents required:
- Proof of identity document (passport) as it was mentioned above;
- Duly certified agreement / bylaws signed by all the partners — this can be understood as a charter of the LLC, both in Georgian and other language of your choice ;
- Properly attested Power of Attorney and proof of identity document of the representative ;
- Legal address in Georgia. The legal address does not have to be a commercial space. This is the address officials will send your correspondence, so basically, your trustee can provide you with one (maybe a home, rented place etc.) . Additionally, the owner’s consent or a duly drawn up and approved contract to use this property (lease, rent, lending agreement, etc.) is required.
- A valid corporate Email address and Georgian phone number;
Opening a Company Bank Account in Georgia
Once you have your company registered, you need to have a Georgian bank account in order to keep your finances running and also for the taxation system.
Georgian banking system is famous for its ease of functioning, reliability and a very good online banking services.
The standard bank accounts in Georgian banks are multi-currency (USD, EUR, GEL).
The biggest advantage to having a Georgian bank account is that it can be completed remotely, without any delay.This is a really attractive service compared to the many jurisdictions where it is becoming more and more difficult to open a bank account.
Is it possible to open a Company Bank Account in Georgia remotely?
The process of remotely opening a bank account is not complicated. You need to choose the bank and the services, which can be found on the web-pages of the banks very easily. Here are the list of documents you will need to open a bank account without physical presence:
- Extract from the public registry of Georgia;
- Application filled by the director of the company;
- The sample of signatures legally notarized and translated;
- The copy of identification document of the director (passport)
- Your name, cell phone number and email for online banking
- Properly attested and signed Power of Attorney and proof of identity document of the representative. The Power of Attorney must be very clear about the powers and rights of the representative.
For example, TBC Bank requires identification of the director of the company through online meetings.
The initial fee paid at the bank is 10 GEL in TBC Bank and varies from bank to bank.
After a response from the bank, the account will be open within maximum 3 days. The bank cards issued for the LLC are not sent by post by the bank. For that you need your trustee to send it to you by international courier.
Conclusion
To sum up, as easy as it seems doing business in Georgia in an online era, the process itself might be tricky for non-residents without extensive knowledge of the whole process. It is possible to open a company bank account or register your business remotely, you just need to have a trustworthy, reliable agent to do the work for you as you already saw in the article — a huge responsibility comes to a trustee when it comes to the official actions.
Do you want how to get 0% tax status for your company in Georgia. Read this article:
Discover Georgia virtual zone company status | Tax-Free businesses
