Dominant faction of RA NA proposes postponing submission of  individual income returns 

ArmInfo.  The ruling Civil Contract faction of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia proposes to postpone the deadline for filing declarations for individuals. Amendments to the Tax Code of the country are being discussed at an extraordinary session of the parliament on April 21.

According to the author of the initiative, Deputy Chairman of the NA Committee on Economic Issues Babken Tunyan, the document proposes to postpone the deadline for filing declarations from May of this year to November 1. The general income declaration will be extended to those who file it this year (for 2024). Those who must file a declaration next year (for income for 2025) can do so from March 2 to November 1. For subsequent years, the declaration deadline will be set from March 2 to July 1.

According to Tunyan, the presented document is the result of joint work with the government, and therefore it can be considered joint. The main reason for the postponement of the deadline is the problem with ID cards. The process of obtaining ID cards has created queues, and without them it is impossible to fill out an income tax return.

The MP noted that the issue of non-working pensioners not having to submit declarations is currently being discussed, since all their data is available in an electronic database, which will automatically be considered as a declaration submission. From a fiscal point of view, this process is of no interest to the state. In turn, Deputy Minister of Finance of the Republic of Armenia Arman Poghosyan noted that the deadline for submitting declarations by November 1 is sufficient to resolve the existing problem with ID cards and obtain an electronic signature. 

The Deputy Minister reported that about 35 thousand people have already submitted their declarations, 15 thousand of whom have received social benefits. According to the current situation, 1.4 billion drams have already been returned to citizens to resolve the issue of social benefits. Poghosyan assured that the State Revenue Committee will effectively use the remaining period until November 1 to fully implement the new system. Wide public notification will also be used with the use of various tools.

Fifteen parliamentarians signed up for the debate on the submitted document.

Recall that the implementation of the Universal Declaration of Income of all citizens-residents of the republic began in 2023. The process is organized in three stages, with the circle of people required to submit a declaration increasing each year. The implementation of the system will be completed in 2025. At the first stage, the income declaration for 2023 was to be submitted by citizens who, as of December 31, 2023, held municipal or state positions in accordance with the Law "On Civil Service". In addition, the first stage included RA citizens who, as of December 31, 2023, were participants  (shareholders, co-owners, members) of commercial  organizations-residents of the RA, which declared a gross income of 1 billion drams or more based on the results of 2022, as well as those citizens who are considered real beneficiaries according to the RA Law "On Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing", as well as those who received a loan in the amount of 20 million drams or more in 2023.

The annual calculation-declaration on income tax for the 2024  reporting year was required to be submitted by May 1 of this year both by persons who submitted a declaration for the previous reporting year (2023) and by new groups of citizens of the Republic of Armenia who are residents of the RA. In particular, citizens of the Republic of Armenia who are considered employed during 2024 and who received taxable income under civil contracts during 2024. From 2025, declarations will have to be submitted by all those adult  citizens-residents of the country who are not included in the two specified groups.