Armenian President demands from SRC to ensure budget revenues and not to interfere business

ArmInfo. The criteria for  risk assessment have been revised in Armenia, moreover, the volume of  thematic inspections has decreased by 25%. The chairman of the  Committee on State Revenues Vardan Harutyunyan reported on it to RA  President Serzh Sargsyan the day before.

According to the press service of the Armenian leader, presenting the  priorities of the Committee's activities in 2018 in connection with  the new Tax Code that came into force in early 2018, Vardan  Harutyunyan stressed that due to the launch of the monitoring center,  the ongoing inspection supervision over the activities of taxpayers . 

The head of the Committee informed the president that as a result of  3,171 operational search operations conducted in 2017, an additional  3 billion drams were recorded, subject to transfer to the state  budget. And according to the criminal cases completed in 2017, 8.5  billion drams were returned to the state budget, which is 4.6 billion  drams or 85.3% more than in 2016. From the reforms of the legislative  field, the head of the SRC of Armenia singled out an initiative to  free imports of industrial-scale machines, equipment and raw  materials from VAT. 

Vardan Harutyunyan stressed that 2000 self-employed persons are  exempted from paying taxes, and taxpayers who are provided with a tax  amnesty are exempted from paying fines and penalties in case of  self-adjustments. The Head of the Committee also noted that VAT is  returned to exporters in just 4 days on the basis of applications for  up to 20 million drams. Vardan Harutyunyan presented the RA President  and the results of work on developing the capabilities of the  electronic control system. 

The chairman of the SRC also stressed that in the course of 2017,  about 97% of taxpayers were submitted to the tax authority  electronically. In addition, there are opportunities for online  viewing of tax liabilities.  V. Harutyunyan said that a unified  system of treasury accounts has already been launched, and thanks to  the development of receipts for customs receipts and an electronic  system for declaring goods, customs clearance is implemented using  modern information technologies. V. Harutyunyan stressed that the tax  inspectorates and customs bodies had been liquidated, and the  agencies formed instead of these bodies were included in the  structure of the Committee.

Turning to the programs planned in 2018, V. Harutyunyan stressed the  expansion of the monitoring center, whose purpose is to conduct more  targeted inspections. V. Harutyunyan assured that the taxpayers will  have the opportunity to declare, without leaving the office, via the  Internet. The report  of the SRC  head also presented anti-corruption  measures and ways to improve the internal security system. During the  meeting, the implementation of the program for upgrading the Meghri  checkpoint was also presented.

The Head of State instructed to continue work on ensuring the  budgeted revenues, excluding any obstruction of the natural  activities of economic entities. Serzh Sargsyan urged to focus on  documentary checks to identify risky entrepreneurs; continue the  process of increasing the level of transparency of the activities of  tax and customs authorities, pay special attention to simplification  of customs procedures, accelerate the introduction of an electronic  system for processing customs documentation, minimize contacts  between customs officials and business entities.

The President also instructed to ensure the implementation of the  program for the modernization and reconstruction of the Meghri  checkpoint, thus completing the modernization and equipping of the  checkpoint at the borders of the Republic of Armenia. The Committee  was also instructed to continue the targeted work to improve the  rating estimates provided by various international organizations  regarding tax and customs procedures.