Armenia removed from gray list of countries not cooperating with  European Union in tax matters

ArmInfo. Thanks to the efforts and consistent work of the RA Ministry of Finance, Armenia was removed from the "gray list" of countries that do not cooperate  with the European Union in tax matters (the EU list of  non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes ).

The European Economic and Financial Council decided to remove Armenia from the  "gray list" from the list of countries actively using the "gray  offshore". As the press service of the RA Ministry of Finance  reports, the decision was made at a meeting of EU finance ministers  on February 18.

"Being in the gray list threatens the country's reputation. Armenia  was considered a country that does not cooperate with the European  Union in tax matters. Removing these countries from the list will be  a good incentive for EU partners to consider Armenia as a country  cooperating with tax authorities ",  Head of Revenue Policy and  Administration Methodology Department of the Ministry of Finance of  Armenia Ori Alaverdyan  said

To recall, in 2017, Armenia made three obligations in order to avoid  the risk of being included in the "gray list". According to Ori  Alaverdyan, by the efforts of the Ministry of Finance of Armenia,  Armenia has fulfilled all its obligations. In particular, the  Republic of Armenia revised the RA Tax Code, limiting tax- free  provisions for export-oriented enterprises, and officially joined the  Organization for Economic  Co- operation and Development (OECD) BEPS  program in February 2019, and also proved its commitment to  localizing 4 minimum program standards specified in tax legislation.  "We are currently working with specialists from the OECD Secretariat.  This is a long process, but in all cases the standards will be  updated," Ori Alaverdyan says.

In addition, according to him, on January 24, 2018, Armenia signed  and subsequently ratified the Council of Europe Convention on Mutual  Administrative Assistance in Taxation.

To recall, the goal of creating a list of "non-cooperative"  jurisdictions was announced "establishing fair corporate tax  regulation and protecting Europe from aggressive tax planning  schemes. Work on the list has been ongoing since spring 2016.  Currently, 92 offshore areas are under constant monitoring by the EU.   Feature" blacklist "lies in the fact that it is the same for the  entire European Union, while the issue of specific measures in  relation to its participants is  decided independently by each EU  country.  Among other things, such measures may include  discriminatory restrictions when working with counterparties from  blacklist jurisdictions - withholding tax at source, limiting or  prohibiting the application of tax benefits, the requirement to  provide additional documentation, etc.  As for the gray list, it  currently has 34 jurisdictions in the process of correcting  deficiencies. Finally, there are 43 offshore companies on the white  list, which are fully consistent with European notions of  "transparency and good faith in the tax system".