Various Georgian media outlets reported on February 2 that from 2020 the owners of two or three cows will have to pay taxes, as demanded by the European Union.
The news was first voiced by a respondent in the story aired by Gurjaani TV; later it was circulated by Batumi TV25. Although Gurjaani TV and TV25 discussed the issue in a self-regulation format, acknowledged the mistake and informed the viewers about this mistake, the story was picked up by other media outlets, among them clickbait websites. These media outlets are: Alia, Primetime, bfm.ge, Commersant, news.coa.ge, vanogg.ge, news.net.ge, otime.ge and imo.ge.
According to the National Food Agency, the information as if an owner of two or three cows will have to pay a tax is a lie.
The National Food Agency explained that according to the Free Trade Agreement with the European Union, from 2020, registration as a business operator becomes compulsory not for the owners of two or three cows, but for those natural persons, who produce and place their own food on the market. Registration as a business operator is free of charge. The purpose of the regulation is to introduce and observe modern standards of food production as well as sanitary and hygienic norms.
