Pension contribution penalties in Georgia are becoming a major burden for businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, according to tax expert and co-founder of audit firm “Linos” Salome Odisharia. She argues that systemic issues in the reporting system are unfairly affecting compliant taxpayers.
Odisharia explains that the problem intensified after May 2025, when income tax and pension declarations were integrated into a unified system. The platform automatically compares declared amounts with pension account balances, and even a one-tetri discrepancy triggers an automatic GEL 500 fine, which doubles to GEL 1,000 for repeat cases.
She says that in many cases, businesses are penalized not due to non-payment, but because of minor technical mismatches. Odisharia also notes that companies sometimes accumulate significant alleged debts without receiving timely notifications via SMS or email.
While a new working group has been created within the Pension Agency to review complaints, she believes the penalty structure itself needs revision, arguing that fines are disproportionate and should be reduced or the calculation mechanism fundamentally changed to avoid penalizing good-faith taxpayers.
