ArmInfo. Startups and subsidiaries of foreign companies in the field of information technology will receive equal tax breaks in Armenia. Amendments in the law "On State Assistance to the Sector of Information Technologies" and in the Tax Code are discussed at the March 28 sitting of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia.
According to the Minister of Transport, Communication and Information Technologies of the Republic of Armenia Hakob Arshakyan, the system of tax preferences has been operating in the country since 2015 and exempts information technology companies from income tax payments (zero tax rate is valid), as well as their reduced income tax of 10 % instead of 23%.
These benefits are now provided to foreign subsidiaries, and will be valid until December 31, 2022, which will ensure a unified approach and reduce the risk of tax evasion. Previously, the system operated from 2015 to October 2018. Thanks to the privileges provided, the number of startups in Armenia has significantly increased: if in 2015 50 startups were registered, in 2016 their number reached 100, in 2017 - 281 companies possessing licenses. At the same time, there was an increase in the registration of new companies in the field of high technologies. If in 2015 there were 288 of them, then in 2016 there was some decline to 267, and in 2017 - 289 companies. Benefits are mainly provided in such start-up activities, in addition to software projects such as electronics, microelectronics, graphic games. The main task of tax preferences, according to Hakob Arshakyan, is to create a product, not outsourcing, and conquer the world with this product.
The minister also said that over the next 5-7 years, a Venture Fund will be created, whose main task will be to assist companies in the field of information and high technology. The authorized capital of the state- created fund will be $ 100 million. A number of private companies have also shown interest in the implementation of this project. All these activities, the minister continued, are envisaged to be implemented as part of the overall program for the development of the ecosystem.
Earlier, the Deputy Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technologies of the Republic of Armenia Armen Pambukhchyan reported that with the application of the new law, 2,400 new jobs were created in the republic with an average salary of 3-4 million drams per year. In 2015-2017 startups paid taxes in the amount of 611 million drams to the state budget.