Upwork already took its fee. Am I taxed on money I never received?

Yes, in the sense that turnover is measured before the fee. That is what a turnover tax is: 1% of 1,000 USD is 10 USD whether the platform kept 100 of it or not. The trade is a very low rate in exchange for no deductions at all.

What about the currency conversion spread?

Same answer. Turnover is the gross amount in the currency the client paid, converted at the National Bank rate for the date it was received. Whatever your bank or the platform charged to move it does not reduce that figure.

My bank statement only shows the net deposits. What do I actually use?

Use the platform’s earnings or transaction report, which shows gross, fee and net for every payment, and reconcile its net column against your bank deposits. The gross column is what you declare; the net column is what proves the two records describe the same money.

Does this change once I pass 500,000 GEL?

The measurement does not change — turnover is still gross. Only the rate changes, and it changes for the whole month in which the cap is crossed, not for the excess alone.

Upwork and Fiverr fees: declare gross or net in Georgia?

Declare the gross amount the client paid, before the platform took its cut. Small Business Status taxes turnover, and turnover is not reduced by expenses — a platform fee is an expense. If Upwork bills your client 1,000 USD and deposits 900, the figure that belongs on the declaration is 1,000.

Turnover is not what arrived in your account

Small Business Status taxes turnover, not profit. That single sentence decides the whole question: a platform fee is a cost of earning the money, and costs do not come off turnover under this regime. They would under a profit-based system. This is not one.

So the number you need is the one the client was charged, which is usually not the number your bank shows. The bank only ever sees what survived the platform, the currency conversion and the transfer.

The same logic covers every deduction of that kind: Upwork and Fiverr service fees, Stripe processing fees, PayPal transaction fees, withdrawal charges, and the spread on a currency conversion. None of them reduce declared turnover.

Georgian Tax Code Art. 90 — 1% of turnover, not of profit

A worked example, in the numbers you would actually see

A client is billed 1,000 USD on Upwork. The 10% service fee takes 100. Upwork sends 900, and a 2 USD withdrawal fee leaves 898 landing in your Bank of Georgia account.

The figure that belongs on the declaration is 1,000 USD, converted to lari at the National Bank rate for the day the money was received. Not 900, and not 898.

At the 1% rate the difference looks trivial — about 1 USD of tax on that one payment. Across a year at 60,000 USD of billings it is 6,000 USD of turnover never declared, and it puts you closer to both the 100,000 GEL VAT threshold and the 500,000 GEL cap than your own records suggest.

Why nothing ever flags it

This error is stable and self-consistent, which is exactly what lets it survive. The declaration matches the bank statement, the bank statement matches the transfers, and every month reconciles perfectly against the wrong number.

It tends to surface at the worst moment: a VAT threshold reached earlier than expected, or a review where the platform’s own records show gross billings that match nothing you filed.

The fix is to work from the platform’s earnings report rather than from the bank statement alone. Upwork, Fiverr, Stripe and PayPal all publish one showing gross, fee and net for each transaction.

Where the fee does count for something

The fee is not deductible against turnover, but it is not irrelevant either. A platform fee charged by a non-resident company is a service bought from abroad, which is what the reverse-charge VAT rules are about.

That is a separate obligation from the 1%, with its own threshold, and it catches people who have never thought of Upwork as a supplier. The reverse-charge guide covers when it applies.

Keeping the fee visible in your own records is therefore worth doing twice over: it proves how you got from gross to net, and it is the figure the reverse-charge question is asked about.

Georgian Tax Code Art. 166 and Art. 169

FAQ

Upwork already took its fee. Am I taxed on money I never received?: Yes, in the sense that turnover is measured before the fee. That is what a turnover tax is: 1% of 1,000 USD is 10 USD whether the platform kept 100 of it or not. The trade is a very low rate in exchange for no deductions at all.
What about the currency conversion spread?: Same answer. Turnover is the gross amount in the currency the client paid, converted at the National Bank rate for the date it was received. Whatever your bank or the platform charged to move it does not reduce that figure.
My bank statement only shows the net deposits. What do I actually use?: Use the platform’s earnings or transaction report, which shows gross, fee and net for every payment, and reconcile its net column against your bank deposits. The gross column is what you declare; the net column is what proves the two records describe the same money.
Does this change once I pass 500,000 GEL?: The measurement does not change — turnover is still gross. Only the rate changes, and it changes for the whole month in which the cap is crossed, not for the excess alone.

Check this yourself

Georgian Tax Code Art. 90 — 1% of turnover, not of profit
Georgian Tax Code Art. 166 and Art. 169

This guide summarises published Georgian regulations and cites its sources. It is not legal or tax advice, and it cannot account for your particular circumstances. You remain responsible for what you file.

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