It could be a case of dissociative identity disorder. The Singapore-worshipping Georgian government has long promised to lead Georgians into a brave new economic world, where taxes are low, government is meek and the free market reigns supreme. The government even proposed to subject tax hikes to a referendum. Proposed amendments to Georgia's tax code, however, suggest that the government may be gravitating away from its libertarian moorings.
With vital foreign investment on the wane and entrepreneurs' mood sluggish, the government changed its mind about reducing income tax rates from 20 to 15 percent, and proposed to cancel tax privileges for the education and non-governmental sectors.
When teachers fought back, the tax increase was cancelled for schools.
Now NGOs, which enjoy a privileged 12 percent income tax rate, say that plans to increase income taxes to a general 20 percent will hamstring the development of civil society.
Can they prevail? Stay tuned. Parliament will discuss the code changes again on July 21, but a final vote is not expected until the fall.
[Editor's Note: EurasiaNet.org operates under the auspices of the Open Society Institute, a part of the Soros Foundations network. The Open Society Georgia Foundation is a Tbilisi-based non-governmental organization that is a separate part of that network.]
Giorgi Lomsadze is a journalist based in Tbilisi, and author of Tamada Tales.
Sign up for Eurasianet's free weekly newsletter. Support Eurasianet: Help keep our journalism open to all, and influenced by none.