ArmInfo. The changes have been initiated in the Tax Code of Armenia so that the banks write off fines and penalites for overdue loans, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan stated yesterday answering to quesitns of Facebook users.
According to him, earlier, in the conditions of the previous - the unchanged Tax Code, if the credit institution had written off an overdue debt to some borrower, it would be considered as an income, and the bank would have to assume tax obligations. "Now we have changed the law so that there are no tax liabilities for banks, so that they are interested in writing off fines and penalties, and begin negotiations with the borrower to solve the problem," the Prime Minister explained, adding that "the government and parliament took their step and now it is the banks' turn . "
According to Pashinyan, in a number of cases, if the residual obligations of borrowers are small, their credit histories will be cleared, and they will have an opportunity to take a new loan. "I understand that this is not a full-fledged decision, but it's a step towards real facilitation of the situation." I share your concerns, but we can not ignore the stability of the banking system - we must solve the problem in a balanced manner, "the Armenian Prime Minister said.
The Armenian parliament at an extraordinary meeting on June 21 in the second and final reading approved amendments to the tax legislation aimed at improving the business environment, increasing tax administration and combating shadow economy. According to RA Deputy Minister of Finance Arman Poghosyan, it is envisaged, in particular, to provide commercial banks and credit organizations with the opportunity to write off penalties and fines for arrears in unpaid loans. Amendments relate exclusively to individuals whose loans were considered bad until May 31, 2018. At the same time, commercial banks will be allowed not to pay tax on profits from those fines and penalties, from which they will refuse. At present, they do not have such a right, paying a tax on profits, regardless of whether the fine is collected or not. For individuals, another amnesty is provided related to non-payment of VAT in transactions involving the sale of cars, apartments, houses, industrial, public and other premises. This category of citizens will be exempted from payment of fines and penalties if within 90 days from the moment the law comes into force, the citizen will pay the main amount of tax.
