The UNHCR Representation in Georgia provides refugees in Georgia with an on-going cash assistance programme for vulnerable refugees and those with specific needs.

This supports and complements the Government’s assistance scheme for those Ukrainians being asked to move out from state-funded hotel accommodation.

The scheme is not limited to those in state-funded hotels, but also available for Ukrainians with protection needs who currently live in other accommodation in Georgia.

It is aligned to UNHCR’s cash assistance programme for asylum-seekers and refugees in Georgia of other nationalities, which is based on the same vulnerability criteria.

The cash assistance funded by UNHCR is being managed by partner “World Vision Georgia” who also bring additional funding to expand the number of families supported overall.

The funds will be provided to those who have a difficult financial situation and arrived in Georgia after February 1, 2022. The program provides financial support in the amount of 255 GEL (3,230 UAH) per person.

To receive the payment, a person must meet the following vulnerability criteria:

• over 60 years old (by date of birth);
• have a large family (three or more children under the age of 18);
• be a single mother or father raising minor children on their own and have the relevant documents.

To receive assistance, you need to fill out an application .

Credo Bank offers citizens of Ukraine the following services free of charge in all branches of the country:

• Multi-currency current account - no service fee
• Free Mastercard
• Cash withdrawals in GEL, EUR and US dollars without commission
• Free Internet and Mycredo mobile bank - even after the Internet megabytes have expired.
• Contact phone: 032 242 42 42, bank website .

To open a bank account in Georgian banks, you must present an international passport and an identity card. Other documents may also be required, such as an identification code.

You can withdraw cash at a bank or at an ATM. You can exchange currencies at banks, exchange bureaus or at an ATM.

You can exchange and withdraw currency without commission at Credo Bank branches, if you first open an account with it. More information here .

Resident individuals are exempt from tax on income that does not have a Georgian source.

Personal income is subject to a flat tax rate of 20%.

Individuals with annual turnover of less than 30,000 Georgian lari (GEL), no employees, and who register as a micro business will be exempt from tax on their business income.

Individual entrepreneurs with annual turnover of less than GEL 500,000 may register as a small business and pay 1% tax on their turnover. The rate increases to 3% if annual turnover will exceed GEL 500,000.

An individual is recognised as a tax resident of Georgia if one was actually located in Georgia for 183 days or more in any continuous 12-month period ending in the current tax year.

The status of resident or non-resident is established for each tax period. In addition, the days according to which the person was considered a resident during the previous tax period are not considered when establishing residency for the following tax period.

More information here .

Resident individuals are exempt from tax on income that does not have a Georgian source.

Personal income is subject to a flat tax rate of 20%.

An individual is recognised as a tax resident of Georgia if one was actually located in Georgia for 183 days or more in any continuous 12-month period ending in the current tax year.

There is an ingenious, but not perfect, solution — to prove to the tax authority of the state in which the citizen does not plan to pay taxes that he is a resident of another country where he fulfills this duty.

A natural person has such a right, as Ukraine has valid conventions and treaties on the avoidance of double taxation with 73 countries of the world. Among them are almost all European countries, as well as the USA and Canada. According to these conventions, Ukrainians who pay taxes in Ukraine have the right to avoid taxation in the country of residence.

If such a situation arises in which a citizen falls under the criteria of a tax resident of Ukraine and at the same time another state defines him as its resident, he has the right to contact the tax authorities of the country of residence and make a request to the Ukrainian tax authorities to confirm that he pays taxes.

That is, in order to prevent double taxation, it is necessary to determine the resident status of an individual and, if necessary, obtain a document that will confirm it. But this may require the help of specialists - tax consultants or lawyers. Specialists advise in advance to collect evidence of the presence of a center of economic interests in Ukraine (if you plan to pay taxes only in Ukraine).

Among them may be:

• certificate of payment of taxes in Ukraine;
• certificate of tax resident of Ukraine (soon to be available in electronic form);
• actual place of registration in Ukraine;
• evidence of the presence of an individual entrepreneur registered in Ukraine (registration documents and tax declarations);
• certificates of current accounts in Ukrainian banks;
• certificates about the child's attendance at educational institutions in Ukraine;
• receipts for the payment of utility bills.

If a citizen of Ukraine is recognized as a resident of Ukraine, but paid taxes in another country, the taxes paid can be credited in Ukraine. But if a person does not meet the criteria of a resident of Ukraine, it allows to change the tax resident status and consider another country as the place of tax payment.

It is important to check the registration of a natural person as a subject of entrepreneurial activity in the Unified State Register. Even if the activity has not been carried out for a long time, but the registration has not been terminated, this is a criterion for recognizing a person as a resident of Ukraine, which is accompanied by the obligation to pay taxes on income received abroad in Ukraine.

Being a citizen of Ukraine, but a tax NON-resident, you will still have to pay taxes in Ukraine for some types of income:

• when receiving inheritance and gifts from persons who are not relatives of the 1st and 2nd degrees of kinship;
• when receiving an investment profit;
• when selling/leasing immovable and movable property to a natural person.

Source .

You can transfer money from Georgia to Ukraine via an international transfer or money transfer at a corresponding provider or a bank.

For an international transfer at the bank you have to fill out a special form and usually pay fees. Other special money transfer providers (e.g. Western Union, Moneygram, Wise, Revolut, Paypal) are often a cheaper and faster alternative.