Gold, silver, platinum, and palladium are among the most sought-after assets in the world. You can’t control the prices, but you can choose where to invest, and in this respect, Georgia should be on your radar for the way its tax regime allows you to maximize returns on precious metals. In this article we tell you how to reduce taxes to zero.
Taxes on precious metals in Georgia
Theoretically, precious metals are subject to two kinds of tax: property tax for the notional value of gold and income tax on the sale of the asset.
- There is actually no tax on the ownership of precious metals in Georgia (0%). Property tax falls under Article 210 of the Tax Code of Georgia, which makes no mention of gold, silver, or platinum. It does mention real estate, land, and vehicles. Compare that to Switzerland, often considered the best jurisdiction for storing capital. In Switzerland, the value of precious metals is included in the annual wealth tax and, depending on the canton, may vary from 0.1 to 1%.
Income tax on the sale of assets (including precious metals and real estate) in Georgia is subject to the two-year rule under Article 82 of the Tax Code. If you hang on to your gold or silver for at least two years after purchase, you won’t pay any tax. If you sell it before that, the standard tax rate of 20% will apply. Compare that to Canada, where tax on the sale of gold reaches 50%, 36% in France, or 24% in the UK (with some exceptions).
Value added tax (VAT) is 18% in Georgia, though there is some discussion about abolishing VAT on investment assets. At present, when buying gold or silver bars, sellers can add VAT to the final check. Avoid VAT by purchasing gold in the form of certificates. More about that below.
Precious metals without the VAT
Certificates from the National Bank
Invest in precious metals in Georgia through the National Bank, which sells gold and silver online (moneymuseum.nbg.gov.ge) and offline (in Tbilisi at 72 Kakheti Highway or 10 Rustaveli Street). Also available through TBC or Bank of Georgia, though you should clarify with the manager at a particular branch before dropping by because gold is not available in every branch.
Some options:
- Investment coins in denominations ranging from GEL 10 to 1000 and 3 to 300 grams. Obviously, value is determined by weight and not face value.
- Ingots of up to one kilogram.
- The National Bank began to issue gold certificates in 2023. Interest-free fixed-income securities, they can be exchanged at any time for real bullion stored in the vaults of the central bank. Two types of certificates are available: for bars of 20 and 1,000 grams.
The third option is the most profitable because only gold certificates are exempt from VAT. All the others are subject to tax of 18%. And there are other advantages: The certificate is like any security (pledging, inheritance, etc.). You also don’t have to worry about the actual metal. If you store bullion or a coin yourself, there is a risk of tarnishing or scratching, which will reduce resale value.
The products of the National Bank of Georgia are minted and certified by the UK’s Royal Mint. Georgia’s Golden Fleece coins are 999.9 pure. The prices for selling and buying gold certificates posted daily on the regulator website are based on gold prices at the London Stock Exchange.
At the time of writing this article, a security for owning a 20-gram bar can be bought for GEL 7,231 (USD 2,659) and sold for GEL 6,680 (USD 2,456), a difference of about 8%, a classic commission covered by the expected appreciation of gold.
The central bank and commercial banks are not the only place to find precious metals. There are specialized exchanges, like the Gold Exchange on the ground floor of the central railway station in Tbilisi or Karati, which trades gold, silver, platinum, and palladium (also based on the London Stock Exchange). Assets at brick-and-mortar exchanges come in high and low grades (starting from 375, an important point for jewelry manufacturers). Whatever the case, VAT must be factored in to a purchase from an exchange.
Assets on the stock market
One way you can avoid VAT is by buying assets through a Georgian brokerage, whose clients gain access to stock market instruments in Europe, Asia, and the USA. With their help you can buy:
- Decimalized digital gold
- Futures on gold, silver, platinum, or palladium
- Shares of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) working in precious metals, like ProShares Ultra Gold, Goldman Sachs Physical Gold, and iShares Gold Trust, all of which have very high returns
- Shares in companies like Barrick or Newmont
Foreign nationals can open a brokerage account with TBC Capital Bank or investment firm Galt & Taggart, something we wrote about in detail in a separate article.
PB Services can help you through the compliance procedure with brokers, open an investment account, and make a deposit, all of which can be done remotely. Contact us to find out more.
Capitalizing on Georgia’s tax regime
Taking full advantage of the benefits of owning and selling gold really entails a change of tax residency. If you remain the tax resident of another state, you will most likely have to pay tax on your gold.
In Georgia, income from sources abroad is not taxed, so if you become a tax resident here, you will be free to invest in global stocks, foreign real estate, or cryptocurrency, and you will owe nothing to the Georgian tax authorities.
There are two ways to get tax residency in Georgia:
- The classic way is to spend 183 days in the country during a calendar year, which automatically makes you a tax resident.
- The accelerated option is the High Net Worth Individual (HNWI) program, which grants foreign nationals with a total wealth of GEL 3 million or more (about USD 1.1 million) tax residency immediately. PB Services can help you prepare the documents you’ll need for the HNWI program. In some cases, it can be done remotely. Schedule a free consultation to learn more.
After obtaining tax residency in Georgia, you will likely also need to renounce tax residency in your previous country, which may involve submitting an application and documents to local regulators.
Why gold is one of the world’s favorite assets
Gold is the king of precious metals. It is the only commodity in the world that has functioned as a global means of payment for thousands of years and is valued everywhere. Because reserves are limited, gold cannot be printed like an ordinary currency at the whim of the government, protecting investors from hyperinflation. Finally, the price of gold has a historically low to negligible correlation with stocks and bonds, meaning gold prices often move independently of these traditional assets.
Consequently, gold is considered to be very reliable for the purpose of capital preservation. Demand for gold is especially high during times of economic crisis and geopolitical upheaval… sound familiar?
- The era of globalization and open markets would appear to be giving way to protectionism as tariff wars (primarily between the US and China), changing the nature of trade relations.
- Global government debt reached a record 235% of global GDP in 2025 as countries spend more money than they produce, posing a very real threat to the stability of national currencies.
- An artificial intelligence stock market bubble has sent concerned investors looking for a haven for capital.
- Finally, U.S. sanctions have undermined confidence in the dollar, with the total share of gold in the reserves of the world’s central banks surpassing the share of U.S. Treasury Bonds in 2025, the first time in 30 years. The World Gold Council predicts that the move away from the dollar will only intensify.
The result is the return of investors to gold and real, safe assets, the most vivid demonstration of which is the ongoing rally in the gold market. Since 2023, gold has continued to set historical highs. Two years ago one ounce cost USD 2,000. In October 2025, it surpassed USD 4,000.
Other precious metals play a somewhat different role, finding themselves used in industry, and are sensitive to economic cycles and other factors that go beyond the scope of this article. Let’s just say there are pros and cons, and it is possible to build an investment strategy around each.
The average return on precious metals
The reliability and profitability of precious metals can be seen in the S&P 500: Over the last 25 years, the benchmark of US securities has grown from about 1,500 to 6,800 points, for a total return of 453% (ignoring reinvestment of dividends). Consider the performance of precious metals:
- Gold rose from USD 280 to about USD 4,000 per troy ounce over the same period, an increase of 1,428%, or three times the S&P 500. Gold’s 25-year average annualized return exceeds 11% in dollars.
- Silver’s value has risen 1,350% over a quarter century: from USD 4 to USD 54 an ounce, which is also impressive. Platinum and palladium have risen more modestly, by 258% and 182% respectively, but new heights may lie ahead.
Many investment analysts, including Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Societe Generale, and Goldman Sachs, predict a further increase in the price of gold to USD 5,000 per ounce in 2026. According to CNBC, silver may rise from USD 50 to USD 100 per ounce.
Important disclaimer: There is always risk! No investment is guaranteed, even when it comes to very reliable precious metals. No analyst in the world can predict the real behavior of assets, though the long term (10 years and more) tends to reduce the short-term volatility of gold, silver, and platinum.
Conclusions
If you’re looking to increase your savings or protect them from inflation, Georgia could be a good option for you. Investing in Georgia will save you on taxes and gain you access to a wide range of financial instruments. The main thing is to approach your investments legally, understand the implications of your current tax residency, consider moving your residency to Georgia, and identify the assets best suited to you. PB Services can help you with all these things.
Moreover, if you are planning to open a business related to trading in precious metals, our specialists can prepare the documents you’ll need to register a sole proprietorship or LLC and help you with accounting and personnel recruitment. An important advantage of Georgia is that for trading in gold bars, coins, or jewelry, you do not need to obtain certificates for conducting business, and there is minimal government regulation of the import and export of precious metals. We can give you more detail in an individual consultation, just leave a request through the form below.