“We will have final discussions on Monday and Tuesday, after which the parliamentary committee will likely initiate the issue,” Deputy Finance Minister Giorgi Kakauridze said, responding to a question about how the legislation concerning property tax for individuals will be changed.

According to Kakauridze, the existing rules will remain in place for companies for the time being, while the government and parliament are expected to agree on the final wording concerning individuals by the end of next week.

“The work on these specific details is underway with the Parliament’s Finance and Budget Committee. I cannot speak about them in advance. We will have final discussions on Monday and Tuesday, after which the parliamentary committee will likely initiate the issue.

What is important is that the thresholds will change. At this stage, the changes will apply only to individuals and there will be no changes concerning commercial entities. The reform will continue in that area, and we will probably gradually move on to that part in the future, since implementing this reform in the commercial sector is considerably more complicated,” Kakauridze said.

Speaking on the same issue, Kakauridze said discussions are underway with the committee on how much the current GEL 40,000 threshold will be increased, and a final decision will likely be ready by the end of next week.

“Currently, the GEL 40,000 threshold is a tax benefit established for Georgian citizens. Accordingly, this GEL 40,000 threshold is provided as a tax exemption. We are currently working with the committee on how much the amount of this exemption will change, and we will likely have a final decision by the end of next week.

As for companies, the current system will remain in place for the time being, although by the end of next week we will have agreed with parliament on the final wording concerning individuals,” Kakauridze said.

Asked how the resulting shortfall in the budget would be offset, Kakauridze said a decision would be made once the final version of the changes is known.

“Once we have the final version, we will decide how the shortfall will be balanced through the budget, together with the budget amendments.

It is difficult to say [how much the budget shortfall will be] until a final decision is made. We will probably have a final decision by the end of next week, after which we will be able to calculate precisely how much of a shortfall the budget will face,” the Deputy Finance Minister said.

Asked whether the changes need to be adopted before November 1, when the declaration period begins, Kakauridze said the bill would likely be adopted through an expedited procedure, allowing the changes to apply to taxes payable this year.

“It will probably happen this year. Most likely, it will be possible to adopt the bill through an expedited procedure, which will allow the changes to take effect for the amounts payable this year. This is what we are discussing with parliament at this stage,” Kakauridze said.