Car customs clearance in Georgia 2026: excise

When importing a passenger car you pay excise and import tax. There is no VAT — importing passenger cars and motorcycles is VAT-exempt (Tax Code, Article 173).

A car's age is the year the customs declaration is registered minus the year of manufacture (Article 188). So a 2020 car cleared in 2026 counts as 6 years old.

Excise from 2 April 2026

Import tax

GEL 0.05 per cm³ of engine size, plus 5% of that amount for each year in use (Article 197). Electric cars are exempt from import tax.

Examples

• An 8-year-old car, 2,000 cm³, left-hand drive: excise GEL 9,000, import tax GEL 140; total GEL 9,140
• A 4-year-old hybrid, 2,500 cm³, left-hand drive: excise GEL 1,500, import tax GEL 150; total GEL 1,650
• A left-hand-drive electric car: excise and import tax — 0

Customs service, inspection and registration fees may be added.

The old rate — who keeps it

Under Law No. 1477 of 2026, a car is taxed at the old rate if:

• Before 2 April 2026 it was entered in the Interior Ministry database or a carrier's record certificate was issued
• By sea — shipping began before 2 April: proven by a bill of lading with the date of loading on board, or a document on loading into a container with the container number and VIN
• By road or rail — transport began before 2 April (CMR or another waybill with the VIN) and the car was entered in the Interior Ministry database before 1 July 2026
• Driven in — you bought the car before 2 April (contract, invoice or registration certificate) and it was entered in the database before 1 July

Classic (retro) cars

The law sets a separate rate for classic cars — GEL 1.00 per cm³ (Article 188(10)), far below the GEL 4.50 for cars over 6 years. But age alone doesn't make a car classic — it must meet set conditions. Before you buy, we check whether your car qualifies.

Car parts

Car parts carry no excise, and import tax is 0% — they aren't on the 5% or 12% lists in Article 197. You pay 18% VAT. A personal parcel of parts up to GEL 300 and 30 kg is tax-free. Regular imports of parts for sale are a business and fall under commercial import rules.

Deadlines and fines

• A car in temporary storage must be cleared within 30 days; customs may extend this by 60 days, or 180 days in a customs warehouse (Customs Code, Article 78)
• Late declaration — GEL 50 per day, up to GEL 1,000 (Article 165)
• If you export the car within 180 days, you can reclaim the import tax (Article 198)
• For a car with foreign plates — 90 days and temporary import: see 'Car with foreign plates'