Why is this reform being carried out in a hurry? Karen Zadoyan to the Deputy Minister of Finance

At the initiative of the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs of the National Assembly, Draft Amendments to the Tax Code is being discussed in the National Assembly. Deputy Finance Minister Arman Poghosyan presented the draft.

It should be noted that at the session on 17 November, the Government adopted a decision to introduce a system of universal income declaration of individuals in the Republic of Armenia.

President of the Armenian Lawyers’ Association Karen Zadoyan addressed the issue that the reform is being carried out urgently.

“Why do we want to implement this reform, which is related to all citizens of Armenia, with such haste, and not in depth, and also by updating and informing the citizens, as unlike other reforms, the citizen will be a participant here? Do we have an analysis of a citizen’s ability to use electronic platforms, what percentage of citizens are literate in that regard and can perform these actions, and can these not be reasons for failure?” Mr. Zadoyan noted.

Let’s remind that the draft proposes to introduce a system of universal declaration of incomes of all citizens of the RA who are residents of the Republic of Armenia, which means that a declaration must also be submitted by:

• all citizens of the Republic of Armenia who are residents of the Republic of Armenia who have not receive income during the reporting year or who received income that is deductible in terms of taxation of the income tax,
• all citizens of the Republic of Armenia who are residents of the Republic of Armenia and received income only from tax agents during the reporting year.

At the same time, it is anticipated that the information at the disposal of the tax authority should be automatically filled in the declaration, for example, the information about the income calculated by the tax agent and the taxes paid. The declaration must be submitted by 20 April of the tax year following each reporting period.

The draft proposes to implement the declaration system in three stages: in 2023, 2024 and 2025, according to groups of declarants.

Details in the video.