TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia is to create a new 15-year tax privilege for people who invest at least one million USD.

An appropriate bill is already initiated in parliament.

The government’s parliamentary secretary Gia Khuroshvili explains that the government decided to encourage investors in order to attract tourism developers and support their activity as much as possible.

This initiative foresees establishing 15-year payment advantage for investors who are owners of land and planning to build hotels.

Only investors who already own land in Georgia and plan to build a hotel there can apply for this tax break.

To make use of it, an investor should invest one million dollars and present a 10 per cent warranty. If the application is approved, the investor will be free from paying fees for profit, property tax and tax for construction permits.

In addition, a special commission under the Economy Ministry will be working on assistance in creating infrastructure for investors.

The same kind of tax break has been in force for three years, though on a limited scale, to develop infrastructure in the city Kobuleti on the Black Sea.

That plan involved giving investors land plots for free on which to build hotels if they were committing at least one million dollars of investments. The government also provided the necessary infrastructure for constructions and creating communication network.

As for tax privileges, the program was also exempted from profit and property fees, and fees for construction permit.

In this case those condition will apply to investor who has own area of land.

Parliament will start reviewing the bill in the next few days, and it the proposal may be amended, according to Gia Khuroshvili.