The government presented, on June 13, a draft of the new tax code, which will be, as Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania put it, ?the most liberal tax code in the region.?
A special governmental commission, consisting of representatives from the executive and legislative authorities as well as Georgian and foreign experts, have been working on the draft code for the past three months.
The number of taxes will be reduced from the current 21, down to 9. The rates of these remaining taxes will also be reduced.
The value added tax will be reduced from 20% down to 18%; the social tax ? from 33 to 20%; the income tax ? from 20 to 12%.
It is expected that the new tax code will come into force beginning in January 2005, after the Parliament approves it, a process expected to occur sometime in autumn.