Dubai or Tbilisi.
Both offer 0% income tax. Only one offers everything else.
The tax parity
Georgia and the UAE both levy 0% personal income tax on foreign-source income. On headline tax alone, they are identical. The differences are in everything that surrounds the headline.
The comparison
17 factors. Side by side.
| Factor | Georgia | UAE / Dubai | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foreign income tax | 0% | 0% | Tie |
| Corporate tax | 15% (0% Virtual Zone) | 9% (since 2023) | UAE |
| VAT | 18% | 5% | UAE |
| Capital gains (personal) | 0% (foreign-source) | 0% | Tie |
| Crypto CGT | 0% (codified MoF N201) | 0% (no formal legislation) | Georgia |
| Inheritance tax | 0% | 0% | Tie |
| Banks exchange-listed | Yes (LSE: TBCG.L, BGEO.L) | No LSE listing | Georgia |
| Capital controls history | Never (30+ years) | Never, but DIFC/onshore split | Georgia |
| FATF status | Compliant (never listed) | Grey list until Feb 2024 | Georgia |
| Double tax treaties | 58 countries | 139 countries | UAE |
| Physical presence | ~3 weeks/year (HNWI) | 0 days (Golden Visa) | Comparable |
| Property cost (prime, per sqm) | USD 1,200–2,500 | USD 5,000–15,000 | Georgia |
| Cost of living (HNWI family) | USD 80–120K/year | USD 250–400K/year | Georgia |
| International schools (annual) | USD 8–18K | USD 15–40K | Georgia |
| Geopolitical risk profile | Low (Russia managed) | Moderate (regional) | Comparable |
| EU treaty alignment | EU DCFTA (2014) | No EU FTA | Georgia |
| Cultural alignment (European clients) | Christian, European heritage | Islamic, Gulf culture | Georgia |
Corporate tax: Georgia Virtual Zone entities pay 0%
Crypto CGT: Georgia has codified clarity; UAE relies on implicit treatment
Capital controls history: Georgia has simpler unified system
FATF status: Georgia has never appeared on any watchlist
Double tax treaties: UAE has broader treaty coverage
Physical presence: UAE banking typically requires presence
Geopolitical risk profile: Different risk profiles — neither risk-free
Cultural alignment (European clients): For European-origin clients specifically
The real argument
The case for Georgia is not tax. It is cost of capital preservation.
A Dubai Golden Visa holder and a Georgian HNWI resident both pay 0% on foreign income. But the Dubai resident spends USD 250,000–400,000 per year maintaining their lifestyle, requires a USD 2M+ property purchase for the Golden Visa, and operates in a jurisdiction with no exchange-listed banks and a FATF grey-list history that ended only in February 2024.
The Georgian resident spends USD 80,000–120,000 per year, qualifies through a USD 500,000 Georgian asset threshold, banks with LSE-listed institutions, and operates in a jurisdiction that has never appeared on any international watchlist.
The tax saving is identical. The capital preserved is not.
Fair acknowledgment
When Dubai is the right answer.
Dubai is the stronger choice for clients whose primary business and social networks are in the Gulf, who need physical proximity to Gulf-based counterparties, who are comfortable with higher fixed costs in exchange for a more established expatriate infrastructure, or whose treaty network requirements favor the UAE's 139 agreements.
Aurum will say so on the discovery call. We do not compete with Dubai on its home ground. We compete on total cost of capital preservation for European-origin wealth.
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