ArmInfo.In 2023, Armenia's State Revenue Committee ensured tax revenues totaling AMD 2,200bln (over $ 5.460bln), which was AMD 296bln or 15.4%, Committee Chairman Rustam Badasyan stated as he presented the 2023 report to Armenia's Premier Nikol Pashinyan.
He emphasized that compared to 2017, state budget revenues almost doubled. It was noted that based on the results of the previous year, it was possible to improve the ratio of taxes to GDP by 0.5 percentage points, as was included in the government program. An increase was recorded for all types of taxes, with the exception of royalties, which are payments for the use of natural resources, which is mainly due to international prices for metals. The Prime Minister was informed that about 362.9 billion drams were returned to taxpayers and individuals, which exceeds the previous year by 100.1 billion drams or about 38.1%. The VAT refund amounted to 288.4 billion drams, exceeding the 2022 figure by 75.4 billion drams or 35.4%. Notably, the majority of the income tax refund comes from mortgage repayments.
According to settlement documents (including cash receipts), 648.7 million transactions worth AMD 12,200bln were carried out, exceeding the previous year by 45 million transactions and AMD 2,100bln.
According to the government press service, the prime minister was presented with the work and reforms implemented in the customs system in 2023. In particular, it was noted that as a result of simplifying the transit declaration procedure, instead of submitting a transit declaration for each unit of consolidated cargo, it is now possible to submit a single declaration for the entire cargo. As a result, according to the SRC, the time spent on preparing the declaration compared to the old system was reduced by approximately 40%. Over the past year, the preliminary customs declaration system has also been improved.
In the context of plans to modernize border checkpoints, it was noted that in 2023, reconstruction of the Meghri checkpoint, as well as a major overhaul of the Bagratashen checkpoint, began. Construction work at the Margara checkpoint has been completed, and ongoing repairs have also been carried out at the Gogavan checkpoint.
Then work in the field of information technology and international cooperation, the process of introducing a system of universal declaration of income of individuals were presented. Regarding the latter, it was reported that work on programming the system is planned to be completed in March.
Badasyan said that in the near future a system for recording goods in customs control zones will also be introduced. And in order to regulate the taxi service sector, an electronic platform will be created, the launch of which is scheduled for September 1, 2024.
In terms of international cooperation, important achievements have also been recorded, in particular, Armenia has joined the new international standard developed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for the automatic exchange of information on crypto assets, as well as the system for the automatic exchange of financial accounts: exchange of information between tax authorities will be implemented from 2025. Armenia also became a co-chair of the Asia Initiative for the period 2024-2026. And in order to expand the capabilities of the dog-training center of the RA State Revenue Committee, a new building of the Center was built with the support of the United States.
