Armenia`s authorities to exempt certain Iranian trucks from road tax 

ArmInfo.  The Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure (MTAI) of Armenia proposes to exempt Iranian trucks weighing up to 44 tons from paying road tax, both for transit and bilateral cargo transportation. The initiative  is posted on the single portal of legal acts.

As stated in the explanatory note to the document, the adoption of the draft government resolution is due to the need to increase the existing volumes of cargo transportation between the Republic of Armenia and the Islamic Republic of Iran, in particular, to reduce the cost of transporting goods imported into the Republic of Armenia, in transit transportation, as well as in bilateral transportation.

It is noted that in accordance with the provisions of Section 9 of  the Tax Code of the Republic of Armenia, when entering the Republic of Armenia with unregistered freight vehicles, carriers pay a road tax, which is calculated depending on the maximum permissible weight of the vehicle (Article 188 of the Code). At the same time, Article 191 of the Code defines cases of exemption from road tax, which include, for example, road taxpayers enjoying benefits for paying road tax in accordance with international treaties. Within the framework of the latter, within the framework of ratified agreements between the Republic of Armenia and other states, carriers from these  countries enter the Republic of Armenia, enjoying the benefit of  exemption from paying road tax (for example, carriers from Georgia,  Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus and other countries). According to the agreement "On Road Communications" signed with Iran in 1992, the parties are exempt from taxes and mandatory customs duties, but the Tax Code does not provide for a requirement to exempt Iranian vehicles from road tax.

According to the data received from the tax authority, in 2024, 4.95 billion drams of road tax were paid to the state budget of the Republic of Armenia, including 2.98 billion drams (or 60% of the income) by carriers from the Islamic Republic of Iran. According to the data of the same year, about 22 thousand trucks registered in Iran entered the Republic of Armenia, of which more than 95% were transported to the Republic of Armenia, and the rest were in transit.

Thus, according to the MTUI, the current tax regulation does not contribute to the development of (transit) transportation through the  territory of the Republic of Armenia to third countries by trucks registered in Iran, and the road tax paid by Iranian carriers is mainly calculated from the cost of goods supplied to the Republic of Armenia, the payers of which are mainly individuals or legal entities - residents of the Republic of Armenia.

In connection with this project, it is proposed to exempt road tax payers using the RA highways with trucks registered in Iran with a maximum permitted weight of 0 to 44 tons from paying road tax in the case of both transit and bilateral cargo transportation, with the aim of correspondingly increasing the volume of transit transportation by Iranian trucks through the territory of the RA or reducing the amount of transportation costs in the cost of goods imported to the RA.