ArmInfo. On May 4, the Armenian Parliament discussed in the first reading the draft law "On Amendments and Addenda to the" Tax Code "of the Republic of Armenia, which provides for reducing the timeframe for refunding value added tax (VAT) to exporters from three months to one.
As the head of the Tax and Customs Committee Edward Hovhannisyan noted, within the framework of the current legislation, VAT refunds to a single taxpayer's account are carried out at the end of the quarter on transactions subject to a zero rate. For economic entities with a debt of less than 5 million drams, VAT refunds are carried out only on the basis of an application, without desk audits, with a debt of 5 to 40 million drams - in a simplified manner - on the basis of an application of the economic entity and information that is at the disposal of the tax authority, and if the threshold of 40 million drams is exceeded, the funds are compensated based on the results of a documentary study and confirmation of justification. At the same time, there are restrictions on transactions subject to a zero rate - the amount of the refundable amount cannot exceed 20% of the tax base that arose when the zero rate was applied.
The State Revenue Committee proposes to abandon these restrictions and provide an opportunity to apply for a VAT refund the next day after submitting a report on the payment of VAT for the previous month. According to the current procedure, the application could be submitted by the 21st day of the next month after the quarter. The restriction on VAT refund in a simplified manner is also being changed - if today the maximum refund amount for the quarter is 40 million drams, now it is provided on a monthly basis. Thus, quarterly, it will reach 120 million drams.
At the same time, the tax office is ready to reimburse the VAT amount the next day after the submission of the report, without waiting for the 20th day of the next month. Gevorg Papoyan, a member of the standing committee on economic affairs, in turn, added that the initiative will allow economic entities to receive compensated funds faster and receive in a month the amount for which a business could previously receive in a quarterly period, which will significantly increase its working capital. In addition, according to him, the day is not far off when the country's financial authorities will completely cancel cross-border VAT payments. Note that today the parliamentarians in the second reading also discussed a package of bills on the rights of persons with disabilities and related bills, a package of bills on Amendments to the Tax Code of the Republic of Armenia and on Amendments to the Law of the Republic of Armenia "On Holidays and Memorable Days of the Republic of Armenia", who are invited to establish an incentive system in Armenia and the Day of Law Abiding Taxpayers.
