Armenian government adjusts tax legislation to improve business  environment

ArmInfo.On June 11, the Armenian government approved a package of amendments to the tax legislation. In particular, the executive body proposes to introduce an amnesty  for fines and penalties on loans to individuals, without an  additional tax burden for commercial banks.

So, it is proposed to create an opportunity for commercial banks without any additional tax  obligations to "forgive" individuals for fines and penalties fixed  before May 31, 2018 for bad loans. Exempt from the payment of VAT At  the same time, banks are exempted from paying fines and penalties for  paying VAT when property is alienated. Amnesty will come into force,  provided that within 90 days after the entry into force of the law,  the principal amount of the tax will be paid.  The initiative will  also review penalties for unregistered workers. The current procedure  provides for a fine of 60 thousand drams for each unregistered  employee if the tax audit reveals them in the number of one to three  people, 150 thousand for each (four to six), 300 thousand for each,  if there are such in the enterprise from seven to nine. "Hidden"  employees will cost the enterprise 600 thousand drams for each, if  there are more than nine. The new measure offers a fine of 250  thousand for each unregistered employee, regardless of the number. In  addition, if earlier the employer to the tax sent the application for  the reception of the employee until the 20th day of the next month,  today there is an imperative to send a maximum of the day before the  reception of the employee.

The Cabinet also proposed to halve the environmental tax on cars.  Since January 1, 2018, Armenia has significantly increased the burden  of environmental charges imposed on car owners. The draft solution  proposes to link the amount of environmental tax with the year of  production of the car and engine power.  However, for owners of cars  with a large engine volume, the tax burden may increase.

It is also proposed to free Iranian trucks from road tax if they are  a distance of one kilometer from the border.