To collect information on foreign entrepreneurs, the National Statistical Office of Georgia selectively sends a notification about the need to fill out a questionnaire. This information is necessary for the Georgian government to calculate statistics, including on foreign investments and analysis of data on companies with foreign founders, contacts, contractors, and clients. In this article, we will look at how the Sakstat questionnaire is filled out for non-resident entrepreneurs in Georgia.
Who needs to fill out the Sakstat questionnaire and why
According to the first paragraph of Article 25 of the Law of Georgia “On Official Statistics”, Geostat is authorized to request and receive from administrative bodies, individuals, and legal entities all statistical data and other information necessary to perform its functions, including confidential information. This means that if you are a non-resident of the country and do business in the territory of Georgia, then you may receive a notification about the need to fill out a questionnaire on the Geostat website.
Statistics are calculated 5 times a year - quarterly and yearly. It is important to check the corporate email of the company for notifications to file a report. For refusing to fill out a questionnaire or hiding information, persons registered in the Register of Entrepreneurs and Non-Entrepreneurial (Non-Commercial) Legal Entities are liable in accordance with the Code of Administrative Offenses of Georgia (Article 17712), for which a fine of 500 lari (≈ $ 160) is provided.
What data is required to specify in the application form
After sending the notification, you are given time to fill out the questionnaire in Georgian. Basically, you need general information about your business:
- Primary occupation;
- Types of services;
- Do you export services (did you provide services to non-residents);
- Do you import services (did you receive services from non-residents);
- Are there partners, non-resident counterparties;
- Cash and share capital;
- Net profit from the operation;
- Dividends declared;
- Dividends actually paid to a non-resident;
- Availability of loans and their condition;
- etc.
How confidential it is and where will this data be used
In accordance with the rules established by the Law of Georgia 'On the Protection of Personal Data', the information specified about your business in the questionnaire will be used only for calculating statistics and will not be advertised.
Based on the example of filling out questionnaires for our clients, we can say that this is a simple task. Filling out the Sakstat questionnaire for non-resident entrepreneurs in Georgia occurs without delays and problems. Each respondent is assigned a person from Geostat, who personally supervises and helps to fill in the data correctly.