Publishing software is one of the better fits for the Georgian IE, partly for a reason many founders do not notice until they read their payout statements: you usually are not selling to your users directly.

Does this describe you?

You publish a mobile app, a desktop tool, a browser extension or a SaaS product. Revenue comes from paid downloads, in-app purchases, subscriptions or licences — collected through the App Store, Google Play, Steam, a payment processor, or your own billing.

Why the 1% rate applies

An IE with Small Business Status pays 1% on turnover up to 500,000 GEL a year. Turnover is what actually reaches you — typically the payout after the store’s commission. Software has almost no cost of goods, so the turnover tax stays close to a tax on real profit.

The app store sits between you and the user

This is the detail that works in your favour. When you sell through a major app store, the store generally acts as the seller to the end user, handles consumer taxes in each country, and then pays you as a business. Your counterparty is therefore a foreign company, not thousands of private individuals.

• No Georgian VAT on that payout, under B2B place-of-supply rules.
• Excluded from the 100,000 GEL VAT-registration threshold.

Contrast that with selling subscriptions directly from your own site to consumers, where you are the seller to private individuals — that is B2C, analysed differently, and can count toward the VAT threshold. Two products with identical revenue can land very differently depending on who collects the money.

Why publishers end up needing a D-U-N-S number

Publishing under a business name rather than your own usually means an organisation account with the app stores — and those accounts require a D-U-N-S number, the business identifier issued by Dun & Bradstreet. A registered Georgian business gives you something to register for it with.

Getting a D-U-N-S is not difficult and it is free to request — the usual friction is the back-and-forth over matching your business details exactly. See our guide to getting a D-U-N-S number for a Georgian business.

What to watch

• Direct-to-consumer billing — selling from your own site to individuals is B2C and can count toward the VAT threshold.
• Gross vs net payouts — agree how turnover is measured when the store deducts commission before paying.
• The 500,000 GEL ceiling — worth planning for if the product scales.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I charge VAT on App Store or Google Play income?

Where the store acts as seller to the end user and pays you as a business, your counterparty is a foreign company — so the payout falls outside Georgian VAT and is excluded from the 100,000 GEL registration threshold.

What if I sell subscriptions from my own website?

Then you are selling to private individuals directly, which is B2C and analysed differently — such sales can count toward the VAT threshold. Worth mapping before that channel grows.

Do I need a D-U-N-S number?

You need one if you want to publish under an organisation account rather than as an individual. It is free to request; a registered Georgian business is what you register with.