What a jurisdiction really costs: Georgia, Dubai, Cyprus

Jurisdiction comparisons are argued over formation prices because the formation price is the one number that fits into an advertisement. It is charged once. Everything that comes after it comes every year — and that is where it is decided whether a jurisdiction was cheap.

The bill over three years

Item	Georgia (sole trader)	Georgia (LLC)	Dubai (free zone)	Cyprus (limited)
Formation, year 1 Dubai by zone and with one visa; Cyprus market rate including the first annual package	from EUR 1,200	from EUR 1,890	EUR 4,000–11,000	EUR 3,400–6,200
Intermediary fee on top German-language agencies quote EUR 4,500–8,500 as the all-in price for year 1 in Dubai	—	—	EUR 750–2,000	usually included
Recurring per year Cyprus above EUR 300,000 turnover: EUR 6,000–12,000, because the full audit then applies	around EUR 1,000	around EUR 1,800	EUR 7,000–11,000	EUR 3,900–6,900
Mandatory secretary
Registered address	your own suffices	your own suffices	flexi-desk or office	registered office
Audited annual accounts Cyprus: an audit for every limited, below EUR 300,000 turnover and EUR 500,000 total assets as a review engagement		not in the small categories
Home held for residence			for the certificate	year-round, 60-day rule
Three years together year 1 plus two following years, excluding cost of living and the Cypriot mandatory home	around EUR 3,200	around EUR 5,500	EUR 18,000–33,000	EUR 11,200–20,000

Georgia: few obligations, therefore few costs

The full price list lives elsewhere, with every add-on itemised: formation costs in the open. What matters for this comparison is what does not arise. There is no mandatory secretary, no prescribed registered office with a third party, no statutory audit in the small reporting categories (annual accounts and filing) and no home that has to be held for residence purposes — 365 days of visa-free stay for German, Austrian and Swiss nationals settles the presence side without a cost line.

What remains is the bookkeeping: from GEL 250 a month for the sole trader, from GEL 450 for the company. Those are the EUR 1,000 and EUR 1,800 in the table, and they are practically the entire recurring bill. Anyone without their own address in Georgia adds a registered business address at EUR 600 a year — in the solopreneur package it is already covered by the GEL 350 a month.

Dubai: the licence renewal is the real price

Formation is the advertised part in Dubai. A free-zone company with one visa runs to AED 16,000–45,000 in the first year depending on the zone, plus AED 3,000–8,000 in intermediary fees; German-language agencies quote EUR 4,500–8,500 for the whole package. A mainland company with a mandatory office starts at AED 40,000 and reaches AED 80,000.

What comes afterwards appears in no advertisement:

On top of that sits an item that is not a cost and still hurts: banks require a minimum balance of typically AED 25,000–50,000. The money is not gone, but it is tied up — in a structure whose purpose was often liquidity in the first place.

The sum produces the figure at which the calculation tips: after three years the bill stands at two to five times the advertised formation price — depending on which formation price was advertised.

Cyprus: the company is cheap, the residence is not

The Cypriot limited is cheaper than it usually appears in comparisons. Formation at a market rate of EUR 3,400–6,200 in the first year, then EUR 3,900–6,900 per year for a small, active company — registered office, secretary, bookkeeping, statutory accounts and the tax return included. Above roughly EUR 300,000 of turnover it is EUR 6,000–12,000, because the full audit then applies instead of the review engagement. Nominee officers cost EUR 3,000–5,000 on top and are a special case, not a standard building block.

The cost argument against Cyprus therefore does not sit with the company but with the person.

Two changes effective 1 January 2026 belong in the same calculation, because many quotes still advertise the old figures:

• Corporate tax stands at 15%, no longer at 12.5%.
• The tax on actually distributed dividends falls from 17% to 5%, the deemed dividend distribution is abolished, stamp duty likewise, and losses carry forward for seven years.
• The 60-day rule no longer fails because someone is tax resident in another state. That condition has fallen away — which makes the rule more accessible and at the same time opens a new case: where dual residence arises, the tie-breaker in the applicable double tax treaty decides, and it can decide against Cyprus.

For prospective clients that means: a quote still working with 12.5% in 2026 is working with a figure that no longer exists.

Cost of living, because it is larger than any licence

Single household, per month	Tbilisi	Dubai	Limassol
Cost of living including housing Dubai in the better districts EUR 4,500 and up	around EUR 1,200	EUR 2,400–3,300	around EUR 2,000–2,400
of which rent, one-bedroom flat	EUR 400–600	EUR 1,400–2,100	EUR 1,240–1,480

The tax advantage of a structure is eaten faster by cost of living than by any levy. Anyone housed in Dubai for EUR 1,200 a month more than in Tbilisi is looking at EUR 14,400 a year — more than three licence renewals.

What this calculation does not decide

• Market access: whoever sells in the Gulf buys something with the licence that Georgia does not have
• EU law: the substance defence against German CFC taxation is open only to EU and EEA companies
• Exit taxation: it falls due before the first euro of jurisdiction costs
• Bankability: the cheapest structure is worthless if no account materialises

The second point is where a pure cost calculation misleads: for a shareholder who remains taxable in Germany, the more expensive Cypriot structure can be the only viable one — set out under Georgia or Cyprus. On market access and the tax side of the Emirates: Georgia vs. Dubai 2026. The rates of all four jurisdictions side by side: tax jurisdiction comparison.

Jurisdiction costs — frequently asked

Why does everyone compare formation prices only?

Because it is the one number that fits into an advertisement. It is charged once and it is the smallest item in any jurisdiction bill. The items that make the difference repeat every year and therefore rarely appear in the quote: licence renewal, bookkeeping, statutory accounts, mandatory officers, and the home that some residence tests require.

Does that make Dubai the wrong choice?

No — the cost calculation is simply not the argument for it. Anyone selling into the Gulf or the wider Middle East buys market access with the licence that Georgia cannot offer. Anyone working purely digitally for European clients pays for that access without using it.

And Cyprus?

Cyprus is cheaper than most comparisons suggest — the company itself costs less per year than one Dubai licence renewal. The jurisdiction gets expensive through the person: the 60-day rule requires a residential property held year-round, and in Limassol that costs more than the company does.

Are these figures binding?

No. The Georgian column holds our own prices and is therefore firm. The Dubai and Cyprus figures are surveyed market ranges as at September 2026 — zones, providers and official fees vary widely, and the values need renewing annually. For a decision the quote in front of you governs, not this table.

This article is general information and does not constitute legal or tax advice. The Georgian prices are our own and binding per quotation; the Dubai and Cyprus figures are our own market survey as at September 2026 and no commitment by third parties. The Cypriot legal position is sourced through the official references given, the Emirati cost figures are market observation. As at September 2026.