2025 წლის დეკემბრის თვის სამართლებრივი სიახლეების მიმოხილვა - Unionlegal

Amendments to the Tax Code

On November 26, 2025, an amendment was made to the Tax Code of Georgia regarding the excise tax rates for tobacco products provided for in the first part of Article 188.
According to the change, the excise tax on imported and large-scale domestic tobacco production has increased, while a preferential excise tax rate has been established for small local producers.

Small Local Production: Defined as the production of up to 35 million packs of cigarettes per year. For this category, the fixed excise rate is set at 1.30 GEL (per 20 cigarettes) instead of 1.90 GEL.
For imported cigarettes and large-scale domestic production (35 million packs or more), the fixed excise rate is set at 2.75 GEL (instead of the previous 1.90 GEL).
Heated Tobacco: The fixed excise rate for heated tobacco is set at 2.70 GEL (instead of the previous 1.85 GEL).

Amendment to the Decree of the Minister of Finance

By Decree N322 of the Minister of Finance of Georgia, dated December 11, 2025, an amendment was made to Decree N996 "On Tax Administration" dated December 31, 2010. This amendment concerns the rules for taxing tobacco products with excise duty.

The amendment establishes a new formula for calculating excise tax for various types of tobacco:

For Standard Cigarettes and Heated Tobacco the excise tax will be the rate determined by the first part of Article 188 of the Tax Code of Georgia plus 20% of the retail sales price of the product.
For Local Production (Small-Scale) cigarettes produced by local manufacturers (those producing fewer than 35 million packs per year), a preferential condition is provided: the excise tax will be the rate determined by the first part of Article 188 of the Tax Code of Georgia plus 15% of the retail price.

Amendments to the Law of Georgia “On Private Security Activity”

Amendments entered into the Law “On Private Security Activity” on December 15, 2025, toughen the conditions for checking the health status of persons working in the security sphere.

The law establishes an obligation that before issuing a license (for an organization) or a guard’s certificate (for a physical person), data must be verified in a unified information database. This database includes information about persons who have mental health problems, or are suffering from alcoholism, drug addiction, or substance abuse.

The change will affect the heads of security organizations as well as guards: before obtaining a guard's certificate, their health will be subject to verification.

For those who are already working in the security sphere, a re-verification will take place until January 1, 2027, and if a discrepancy is revealed, a response will occur in accordance with the law.

Amendment to the Law of Georgia “On Public Registry”

On December 17, 2025, an amendment was entered into the “Law of Georgia on Public Registry.” The law established the institution of the “State Surveyor.” A state surveyor will be a highly qualified and certified person employed by the Agency, who will be responsible for topographical, geodesic, and cadastral works, as well as internal measurements of buildings and structures.

New functions are being added to the National Agency of Public Registry, specifically: issuing cartographic and geoinformation services, supervising measurement works performed by the private sector, and conducting photogrammetric works.

The law defined that the systematic registration process concludes on December 31, 2025. From June 2026, the Agency moves to sporadic registration, which implies responding to individual applications of citizens, including in the process of recognition of arbitrarily occupied lands.

Amendment to the Law “On Local Fees”

With the amendments entered into the Law “On Local Fees” on December 17, 2025, the state established a new local fee, which allows the builder/customer to complete the bureaucratic process faster if they admit to a violation.

A new type of fee is established for those who conducted unauthorized construction; if the violator admits the violation, they can pay the fee and receive the corresponding act through an accelerated procedure. The fee payer can be either a physical or a legal person or a partnership.

The law establishes the upper limit of the fee: the fee for accelerated service (both upon acceptance into operation and upon admission of a violation) shall not exceed 40,000 GEL. As for the specific amount of the fee and the rule of payment, this issue will be within the competence of the municipal city council itself.

By the same amendment, it was established that the maximum amount of the accelerated service fee for accepting a building into operation will be 40,000 GEL. This does not apply to radiation or nuclear facilities of special importance.

The law will enter into force at the end of January 2026 (on the 30th day from publication).

Amendment to the “Foreign Agents Registration Act”

The Parliament of Georgia on December 17, 2025, entered an amendment into the law — the “Foreign Agents Registration Act.” Its main essence is the change of the body responsible for the enforcement of this law and the detailed writing out of registration procedures.

Unlike the rules existing before the amendment, the management of the entire process (registration, control, receipt of reports) moves to the competence of the State Audit Office and the Auditor General.

According to the law, the condition for registration as an agent is defined; specifically, a person who becomes an “agent of a foreign principal” is obligated to apply to the State Audit Office within a 10-day period. Upon registration, the person must submit full information:

- About addresses, partners, and owners.
- About the essence of the activity and the list of employees.
- About any income, donation, or material value received during the last 60 days received from a foreign source.
- Information about expenditures, especially if it was related to political activity.

If an agent distributes any material, it must clearly state that it is distributed by an “agent of a foreign principal.” A copy of the material must be sent to the Audit Office within 48 hours of distribution.

An electronic database accessible to everyone is being created on the internet, and punishment and sanctions are also established; specifically, for violations of the law (hiding information, false data, refusal of registration), a fine of up to 10,000 GEL was established, or imprisonment from 6 months to 5 years according to the severity of the violation.

The mentioned changes enter into force from March 2, 2026.

Important Decision of the Constitutional Court

By the decision of the Constitutional Court of Georgia of December 25, 2025, the disputed norms of the Civil Code were left in force. The subject of the dispute was two specific entries of the Civil Code, which, in the opinion of the plaintiffs, were discriminatory and violated the right to equality. Specifically, the issue of the constitutionality of the upper limit of the interest rate provided by Article 625 of the Civil Code was disputed, according to which the restriction applies only to private persons while banks, microfinance organizations, and credit unions are exempted from this limit.

Also disputed was the constitutionality of Article 276 of the Civil Code, according to which, when a borrower can no longer pay the debt and their mortgaged property is sold at auction, the regulation toward private persons and qualified financial institutions is different. Specifically, in the case of a private person, if the amount received from the sale of the apartment cannot cover the entire debt, the debt is still considered settled, and the creditor does not have the right to direct payment toward the debtor's other items, salary, or other property; whereas in the case of a financial institution, if the sale of the apartment is not enough for the debt, they have the right to demand the sale of the debtor's other assets (salary, car, other plot of land) until the debt is fully covered.

According to the position of the plaintiffs, this entry leaves bank clients "unprotected," while a person taking a loan from a private person is guaranteed that they are liable only with the subject of the mortgage.

The Constitutional Court did not satisfy the lawsuit of Aleksandre Kokhia and Kakhaber Gogodze based on several arguments:

Substantial Inequality „of the groups to be compared:“

The Constitutional Court considered that those persons who take a loan from subjects under the supervision of the National Bank (banks, microfinance organizations) and those who take a loan from private persons do not represent substantially equal groups. According to the court's explanation, banks, microfinance organizations, and qualified financial institutions are subject to strict rules of “responsible lending.” They are obligated to check the borrower's income so that the person does not fall into over-indebtedness. In the case of private lenders, such control does not exist, which is why the state is forced to establish blanket restrictions on them (upper limit of interest, limit on property seizure) to protect citizens from predatory conditions.

Interest of Financial Stability:

The court shared the argument of the respondent and the National Bank that imposing restrictions on the banking sector (for example, prohibiting a bank from directing enforcement to other property if the amount generated from the realization of the mortgage subject is not enough to cover the obligation) would pose a threat to the interests of depositors, as well as access to loans. Under such a restriction, the bank would have a loss; as a result, the bank and the depositors standing behind it would find themselves in an unprotected situation. Furthermore, if the bank’s mechanism for recovering losses were restricted, it would be forced to issue significantly fewer loans or demand much more collateral (for example, issue a loan for only 50% of the apartment's value).

Different Method of State Supervision:

The court explained that the state carries out control in both cases, though through different methods:

a) regarding private persons, control happens directly through prohibitions established by law (disputed articles of the Civil Code); b) regarding banks, control happens through National Bank regulations, which are more flexible and serve systemic stability.

Principle of Equality:

The court considered that the differentiation between private lenders and the banking-financial sector is justified by a legitimate public goal — maintaining the stability of the financial system. The protection of consumers in the case of banks happens not through a rigid percentage limit, but through transparency, competition, and other mechanisms for protecting consumer rights.

As a result, the court considered that the existing legislation is not discriminatory, as the different approach stems from the very specifics of financial institutions and the need for the country's economic stability.