Do individual entrepreneurs in Georgia have to pay pension contributions?

Checked on 2026-10-25

No, not by default. Georgia's Law on Funded Pension makes joining voluntary for self-employed people, including individual entrepreneurs, and it applies to citizens and to foreigners with a permanent residence permit. Once you join, you must pay 4% of your taxable business income with each income declaration, and the state adds 2% on the first GEL 24 000 a year.

Key facts

What	The law says	Source
Who the law covers	Employers; citizens of Georgia; foreign citizens and stateless persons with a permanent residence permit in Georgia	Law on Funded Pension, art. 1(4)
Self-employed	An entrepreneur natural person under the Tax Code, registered as a taxpayer	Law on Funded Pension, art. 2(i)
Joining	Voluntary for self-employed persons	Law on Funded Pension, arts. 3(3), 21(3)
After joining	Contributions are mandatory on each income	Law on Funded Pension, art. 3(3)
Your contribution	4% of income received in the accounting period, paid on the day you submit the income declaration	Law on Funded Pension, art. 3(6)(d)
Income counted	For an individual entrepreneur, income subject to income tax from entrepreneurial activities	Law on Funded Pension, art. 2(j)(j.a)
State contribution	2% on the first GEL 24 000 of annual income; 1% from GEL 24 000 to GEL 60 000; none above GEL 60 000	Law on Funded Pension, art. 3(6)(e)–(f)
When you become a participant	Immediately after your first contribution	Law on Funded Pension, art. 21(4)
No income for a while	Contributions pause and resume when income resumes	Law on Funded Pension, art. 23(2)

Who the law covers

Georgia’s Law on Funded Pension applies to employers, to citizens of Georgia, and to foreign citizens and stateless persons who hold a permanent residence permit in Georgia (art. 1(4)).

For the law, a self-employed person is an entrepreneur natural person under the Tax Code who is registered as a taxpayer (art. 2(i)). For an individual entrepreneur, the income that counts is income subject to income tax from entrepreneurial activities (art. 2(j)(j.a)).

Voluntary for the self-employed

Joining the funded pension scheme is voluntary for self-employed people (art. 3(3); art. 21(3)). You become a participant as soon as you make your first contribution (art. 21(4)). From then on the law makes a contribution mandatory on each income you earn as a self-employed person (art. 3(3)).

How much

A self-employed participant pays 4% of the income received in the accounting period, on the day of submitting the income declaration (art. 3(6)(d)). The state adds to your individual retirement account: 2% on the first GEL 24 000 of annual income, then 1% up to GEL 60 000 inclusive, and nothing on income above GEL 60 000 (art. 3(6)(e)–(f)).

If your self-employed income stops for a while, you stop contributing; your pension assets stay in your account, and contributions restart when the income does (art. 23(2)).

If you hire staff

For employees the rules are different: joining is mandatory, except for those who had reached 60 (men) or 55 (women) before the law entered into force (art. 3(2)). The employer pays 2% of the taxable salary at its own expense and withholds another 2% from the employee (art. 3(6)(a)–(b)).

Sources

Law of Georgia on Funded Pension, No 3303-რს of 21 July 2018, arts. 1, 2, 3, 21, 23 (consolidated English text, Legislative Herald of Georgia, matsne.gov.ge) checked 2026-10-25

Change history

2026-10-25: Page created

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