ArmInfo.The Armenian authorities are expanding the range of social expenses on healthcare and education reimbursed within the framework of the general declaration of income of individuals. Thus, the Ministry of Finance of Armenia, which develops the country's tax policy, has adjusted the law to the wording previously voiced by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. The corresponding resolution was adopted on February 13 at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers.
Citizens of the Republic of Armenia who are residents of the RA and submit an annual income tax return can take advantage of the opportunity to reimburse social expenses from the income tax amount for social expenses incurred both for themselves and for family members (spouse, parents, and children).
According to the current procedure, declarants can take advantage of the reimbursement of social expenses if in 2024 they purchased a health insurance package from an insurance company operating in Armenia or paid for tuition at an educational institution operating in Armenia. Education expenses can be incurred under pre-school, primary, basic, secondary, preparatory (vocational), intermediate, higher and postgraduate vocational education programs. It will be possible to receive compensation in both directions simultaneously if their total amount does not exceed 100,000 drams.
However, at a press conference on January 31, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that the social tax deduction will be provided for expenses on kindergartens, dental services not covered by insurance, sports sections, including football, basketball, wrestling and boxing, as well as creative circles such as dancing and drawing.
Late in the evening of the same day, the State Revenue Committee had to issue a clarification, stating that <there is no contradiction between the RA Prime Minister's statement on receiving compensation for social expenses after filling out the declaration and the corresponding explanation of the SRC, since all notifications of the State Revenue Committee refer to the current regulation, and the Prime Minister presented the changes expected in the near future>.
In particular, the draft presented today by Finance Minister Vahe Hovhannisyan proposes to establish that social expenses related to healthcare also include expenses on the purchase of dental services in the RA in the reporting years of 2024 and 2025. It is proposed to establish that the right to reimbursement of this type of social expenses may also be exercised by beneficiaries of the social package.
Social expenses on education will also include expenses on the purchase of educational services provided through music, art, fine arts, dance schools, extracurricular organizations, centers, children's and youth sports schools and other extracurricular programs, as well as non-formal education programs guaranteed by the authorized state body in the field of education, and expenses on the rental of textbooks within the framework of secondary (general, special, specialized) educational programs.
In addition, the draft proposes to establish that social expenses incurred in the above areas during the reporting year of 2024 will also be reimbursed. The amount of compensation for the rental of textbooks for each student is 3,000 drams per year. The fact of the guarantee of educational programs will be taken into account on the date of filing a declaration for the reporting year of 2024, and for subsequent reporting years - on the date of issuance of the settlement document by the person providing educational services.
The right to compensation for social expenses arises if social expenses were incurred in non-cash form, with the exception of expenses incurred for the purpose of renting textbooks, for which the fact of payment is not taken into account.
