Authorised Users on Rs.ge: Giving Your Accountant Access Safely
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Authorised Users on Rs.ge: Giving Your Accountant Access Safely
Adding an rs.ge authorized user accountant to your Revenue Service portal takes about ten minutes. Getting the permissions wrong can take weeks to fix. Most foreign founders in Georgia make the same mistake: they hand over their own login credentials instead of using the built-in delegation system.
Georgia's Revenue Service portal, rs.ge, has a structured access framework that lets you grant a third party specific rights over your tax account, without sharing your password and without surrendering control. The system works for Individual Entrepreneurs, LLCs, and Virtual Zone companies alike. But the options are not all equivalent, and the boundaries matter.
This article walks through how delegation actually works, what each permission level covers, and where the real risks sit, including the document and identity questions that come up when your accountant is based abroad or when your company was registered remotely.
What "Authorised User" Means on Rs.ge
Georgia's Revenue Service does not use a simple read/write toggle. The rs.ge delegation system separates identity from authority. Your personal or company account stays under your control. Your accountant gets a defined scope, tied to their own Georgian ID or TIN.
The Legal Basis for Delegation
The delegation feature sits inside the rs.ge personal cabinet, under account settings. It is a formal instrument recognised by the Revenue Service, not a workaround. When you add an authorised user, that person acts under their own login. Every action they take is logged against their identity, not yours. This matters for audit trails.
Your accountant does not need to be a Georgian citizen. Foreign nationals with a Georgian TIN (taxpayer identification number) can be added as authorised users. If your accountant is a firm rather than an individual, the firm's representative still needs their own TIN to be registered in the system.
What the System Covers
Delegation applies across the core functions of the personal cabinet:
Declaration submission: filing monthly and annual tax returns on your behalf
Payment initiation: accessing the payment section (though actual fund movement requires additional bank-side authorisation)
Document retrieval: downloading certificates, tax status confirmations, and correspondence
VAT management: submitting VAT returns and reviewing reverse-charge obligations
Correspondence: reading and responding to official Revenue Service notices
For a full picture of what each cabinet section contains, the Rs.ge Personal Cabinet Tour: Every Tab and Menu Explained covers every menu in detail.
What Delegation Does Not Cover
Some actions stay locked to the account owner regardless of permission level:
Changing the registered address or legal representative
Modifying bank account details linked to the tax account
Submitting a company liquidation or deregistration request
Granting or revoking other authorised users
These are ownership-level actions. Your accountant cannot accidentally or deliberately trigger them. That boundary is structural, not a setting you configure.
The Three Permission Levels and When to Use Each
Rs.ge does not offer a single "accountant access" button. The system gives you three distinct permission configurations. Choosing the wrong one is the most common setup error among foreign-owned companies in Georgia.
View-Only Access
This level lets your accountant read your tax account without submitting anything. They can see filed declarations, outstanding balances, correspondence history, and your current tax status.
Use this when:
You are onboarding a new accountant and want them to review your history before taking over filings
You have an in-house bookkeeper who prepares declarations but a separate firm that submits them
You want a second set of eyes on your account without giving submission rights
View-only is also useful during a handover period between two accounting providers. Both can see the account simultaneously, which prevents gaps in institutional knowledge.
Submission Access
This is the standard configuration for a working accountant relationship. Your authorised user can file declarations, submit VAT returns, upload supporting documents, and respond to Revenue Service queries. They cannot initiate payments directly from the rs.ge side.
A practical example: a German freelancer registered as an Individual Entrepreneur in Georgia with small business status pays 1% turnover tax. Her accountant needs submission access to file the monthly declaration by the 15th of each following month. View-only would not be enough. Full access would be more than necessary.
Full Delegated Access
Full access adds payment initiation to submission rights. This is appropriate when your accountant also manages your GEL tax payments directly, rather than instructing you to pay separately.
The Monthly Compliance Calendar for Georgian Businesses shows which deadlines require active submission versus passive monitoring, which helps you decide which access level your accountant actually needs.
Delegated Access vs. Power of Attorney: Which Covers What
These two instruments overlap in perception but not in law. Many founders assume a power of attorney (POA) makes rs.ge delegation unnecessary, or vice versa. They serve different functions, and some situations require both.
What a POA Covers That Rs.ge Delegation Does Not
Dimension | Rs.ge Delegated Access | Power of Attorney (POA) |
Scope | Tax portal actions only | Legal representation across agencies |
Company registration | Not applicable | Required for remote LLC setup |
Bank account opening | Not applicable | Required at most Georgian banks |
Revenue Service filings | Full coverage | Rarely needed if rs.ge access is active |
Apostille requirement | None | Sometimes required for foreign-issued POAs |
Revocation method | Instant, via portal | Requires notarised revocation document |
Audit representation | Limited to portal responses | Full legal standing before the RS |
Duration | Until manually revoked | Fixed term stated in the document |
A POA is the instrument you need when your accountant or representative must act outside the digital portal, at the House of Justice, at a bank branch, or before the Revenue Service in a formal audit context. Rs.ge delegation covers the day-to-day digital work.
When Foreign Documents Enter the Picture
If your accountant or legal representative holds a foreign-issued POA, that document may need legalisation before Georgian authorities accept it. This is where apostille certification becomes relevant. Georgia is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, so a foreign public document with an apostille from the issuing country's competent authority is generally accepted by Georgian institutions.
The process runs in the other direction too. If you need a Georgian-issued POA accepted abroad, you can get an apostille in Georgia through the House of Justice. The apostille and notary legalisation guide covers the specific steps and document types.
Combining Both Instruments Correctly
A typical setup for a foreign founder who registered an LLC remotely via POA and now wants ongoing accountant access looks like this:
The POA covered company registration at NAPR and bank account opening
Rs.ge delegation now covers all monthly and annual tax filings
The accountant holds submission-level access on the portal
The POA remains on file for any future in-person representation needs
This combination is clean. The POA is not re-used as a substitute for rs.ge delegation, and the delegation does not attempt to extend into legal representation territory. If you used Gegidze's tax accounting and bookkeeping services to set up your compliance workflow, this structure is already the default configuration.
What Can Go Wrong: Access Mistakes That Create Real Problems
Giving Too Much Access
The most common mistake is granting full administrative rights to an external accountant. Full rights include the ability to change bank-linked payment details, modify notification settings, and in some configurations, initiate direct debit instructions. A trusted bookkeeper does not need any of that. Submit-level access on the filing modules is sufficient for monthly and annual compliance.
If you run a Virtual Zone LLC or an International Company, your tax position depends on strict compliance records. An accidental change by an over-permissioned user, even an honest one, can create discrepancies that take weeks to unravel with the Revenue Service.
Giving Too Little Access
Under-delegation creates a different problem. If your accountant only has view rights, they can see the filing history but cannot submit returns. This means every filing deadline requires your direct action, which defeats the purpose of delegating in the first place.
The Monthly Compliance Calendar for Georgian Businesses lists roughly a dozen recurring submission dates across the year. Missing even one because you were travelling and your accountant lacked submit rights costs you a penalty. View-only is a useful tier for a junior reviewer or an investor; it is not workable for your primary accountant.
Sharing Passwords Instead of Delegating
Some founders, trying to keep things simple, share their own rs.ge login credentials with their accountant. This bypasses the authorised-user system entirely. The Revenue Service's system logs submissions against the credential used, so any filing made under your credentials by another person creates an audit trail that may look unusual.
Password sharing also violates the platform's terms. Use the delegation system as designed.
Revoking or Changing Access: The Steps to Follow
When to Act Immediately
Access should be revoked the moment a professional relationship ends. This includes a bookkeeper leaving a firm, switching to a different accounting provider, or your business changing its compliance structure. Do not wait for the next filing cycle.
The rs.ge personal cabinet logs every action by every authorised user with a timestamp. Before you revoke access, download or screenshot this log. It creates a clean handover record if any question arises about filings made during that person's active period.
How to Revoke in the Portal
The revocation path inside rs.ge is found under your account's user management panel. The exact menu label can shift between portal updates, so if the path below differs slightly, check the Rs.ge Personal Cabinet Tour for the current navigation.
The standard sequence:
Log in with the primary account owner credentials.
Navigate to the authorised users or delegation management section.
Select the user whose access you want to change.
Choose "revoke" or adjust the permission level, depending on the outcome you need.
Confirm the change. The system reflects it immediately.
Revocation takes effect in real time. The former user's session, if active, is terminated.
Adding a New Accountant After a Switch
When you switch accounting providers, the new accountant needs their own delegation, separate from the one you just revoked. Each firm or individual professional gets their own authorised-user entry. Do not transfer or reassign one person's access to another.
If you move to a structured compliance setup, for example through Gegidze's tax accounting and bookkeeping services, your onboarding process will include a guided delegation step. The new provider should send you their Georgian tax ID or registered professional identifier, which you then use to create the delegation in rs.ge.
Access Structure by Business Type: A Reference Table
TABLE 2: Recommended Access Configuration by Entity and Use Case
Entity Type | Typical Accountant Need | Recommended Permission Level | Payment-Initiation Needed? | POA Also Required? |
Individual Entrepreneur (Small Business Status) | Monthly 1% turnover declaration | Submit (filing modules only) | No | Only for in-person Revenue Service visits |
LLC (standard CIT payer) | Monthly declarations + annual report | Submit (filing modules only) | No | Yes, if agent must sign documents off-portal |
Virtual Zone LLC | Annual profit declaration + VAT returns | Submit (filing + VAT module) | No | Yes, for any regulatory correspondence |
International Company | Annual CIT + withholding returns | Submit (filing modules only) | No | Yes, for treaty-related filings or NBG correspondence |
iGaming-licensed entity | Monthly gross gaming revenue returns | Submit (all tax modules) | No | Yes, GRS-specific authorisation often required separately |
Reading the Table
A few patterns stand out. No external user, regardless of business type, needs payment-initiation rights for routine compliance. That tier is for internal finance staff who are also processing payroll or VAT refunds directly through the portal.
If you operate as an Individual Entrepreneur with Small Business Status, your filing obligations are simpler than those of an LLC, but the delegation logic is identical. Submit rights on the relevant module, nothing more.
Special Cases: iGaming and Regulated Entities
iGaming licensees file monthly gross gaming revenue returns through a separate reporting path within rs.ge. The standard filing-module delegation covers this, but the Georgian gaming regulator (GRS) sometimes requires its own authorisation layer for certain correspondence. This sits outside rs.ge entirely.
If you are setting up or reviewing compliance for an iGaming entity in Georgia, confirm with your provider whether the rs.ge delegation is sufficient or whether a separate GRS letter of authority is also needed. Treating the rs.ge access as the only authorisation needed is a common gap.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can my accountant submit a VAT return on my behalf using delegated access?
Yes, provided you have granted them submit-level access specifically to the VAT module. VAT returns in rs.ge sit in a separate module from income tax declarations. If you granted submit rights only to income tax filings, your accountant can file those but will be blocked on VAT. Confirm which modules are included when you set up the delegation.
Does delegation expire automatically, or do I need to renew it?
The rs.ge authorised-user delegation does not expire by calendar date under the standard configuration. It remains active until you actively revoke or modify it. This means that if you end a relationship with an accountant but forget to revoke access, they technically retain the ability to submit filings. Make revocation part of your offboarding checklist for any professional relationship.
If my accountant files an incorrect return, am I still liable?
Yes. Tax liability stays with the registered taxpayer, which is your company or your IE registration. An authorised user acts on your behalf, not instead of you. If an incorrect return leads to a penalty, the Revenue Service issues it against your tax account. Your remedy is contractual, through your agreement with the accountant, not through rs.ge itself.
Can I grant access to someone who is not a Georgian tax resident or registered in Georgia?
The rs.ge delegation system links users by their Georgian personal ID number or tax identification number. A foreign accountant without a Georgian registration cannot be added as an authorised user in the standard flow. In practice, most foreign founders working with a Georgian accounting firm delegate access to the firm's Georgian-registered staff, not to a foreign individual.
How many authorised users can I add to one rs.ge account?
The system supports multiple authorised users per account. There is no published hard cap for small and medium businesses. In practice, most compliant setups have one primary accountant with submit rights and occasionally one read-only user for an investor or co-founder. Adding many users increases the risk of an oversight when someone leaves, so keep the list short and audit it every six months.
Will my accountant be able to see my bank account balance through rs.ge access?
No. Rs.ge does not display live bank balances. The portal shows tax declarations, payment records made through the portal, and correspondence with the Revenue Service. Your actual bank account data sits with your bank, entirely separate from rs.ge. If you are still setting up your Georgian business banking, the bank account setup process involves the bank directly, not rs.ge delegation.
Can an authorised user accept or respond to a Revenue Service audit notice on my behalf?
Not through rs.ge delegation alone. An audit notice that requires a formal written response or representation at a Revenue Service meeting falls outside what portal delegation covers. For that, you need a notarised Power of Attorney that specifically includes the right to represent you in Revenue Service proceedings. This is exactly the boundary described in Part 1, and it is the most commonly misunderstood limit of the delegation system.
