NA Civil Contract faction  proposed several amendments significantly  simplifying  income declaration filing for individuals

ArmInfo.  The RA NA ruling Civil Contract faction of has proposed several amendments that significantly simplify the process of filing income declarations for  individuals. During an extraordinary session of the National Assembly  on October 24, amendments and additions to the Tax Code and a package  of related laws will be discussed.

According to Babken Tunyan, Acting Chairman of the National Assembly  Committee on Economic Affairs, according to current regulations  adopted in 2023, citizens are required to complete their declarations  by November 1 of this year, logging into the appropriate platform of  the State Revenue Committee, and submitting them to the SRC with an  electronic signature. Starting next year, several hundred thousand  pensioners and all other citizens will be connected to the system. If  the State Revenue Committee has information on income sources, such  as wages, it is automatically registered. If a citizen sees the need  to clarify or supplement certain data, they complete it and approve  the declaration. If everything matches the income amount, the citizen  approves the declaration. Tunyan noted that penalties are provided  for failure to submit declarations.

Some changes are currently being proposed. If a citizen believes that  all of their data, including wages and other sources of income, is  visible, they can simply choose not to log into the State Revenue  Committee system. In this case, citizens' income declarations, even  if they haven't logged into the system but are visible to the State  Revenue Committee, will be considered complete. Citizens will not be  held liable for failing to submit income. However, those citizens who  realize that their income is not  invisible to the State Revenue  Committee will, after a certain period of time, bear some liability.  Additionally, the State Revenue Committee will be provided with an  additional tool for obtaining larger volumes of information to ensure  complete tax returns.

 If a citizen agrees to the State Revenue Committee receiving data on  deposit dividends, the system will automatically record this. If a  citizen refuses, citizens will be required to obtain this data  through their banks and complete their tax returns themselves. Thus,  as Tunyan noted, the authorities are shifting from a focus on fines  to a focus on incentives. In practice, there will be no penalties for  failure to submit tax returns, as such cases will not occur, but  citizens will continue to receive social loans for education and  healthcare. The proposed system should simplify citizens'  relationships with the state by making them more transparent.  According to the current regulations, 140,000 people have already  submitted tax returns, most of which have not been subject to any  changes.

Deputy Minister of Finance of the Republic of Armenia Arman Poghosyan  noted that the Government of the Republic of Armenia has no  objections to the legislative initiative, but, in turn, proposes  clarifying some provisions. According to the Deputy Minister, the  Civil Contract faction has initiated a package of amendments that  stipulates that personal income declarations must be pre-filed by the  State Revenue Committee. This will provide declarants with sufficient  time to log into the State Revenue Committee's system, verify the  completeness and accuracy of their declaration, and, if necessary,  make any necessary changes and/or additions. According to Poghosyan,  if no such changes or additions are required, the declaration will be  considered filed. 

However, all declarants eligible for reimbursement of social expenses  related to healthcare or education and wishing to exercise this right  must log in to the e-governance system and certify the declaration  prepared for them with an electronic signature. The Deputy Minister  reported that the government is proposing two important amendments to  the package of bills: "The first is that deductible, or non-taxable,  income between family members will not be subject to declaration.  This will significantly simplify the declaration process, as people  experience significant difficulties with these ongoing transfers  between family members to finance household expenses, and this issue  will essentially be completely resolved. The second proposal is that  if we are talking about information received from third parties, such  as banking information or information provided by another financial  institution, it should be transferred to the tax authority only with  the consent of the declarant." Poghosyan also noted the issue of  individuals who have not yet received an ID card. In this case, the  declarant will have the right to complete the declaration until the  25th of the month following the date of receipt of the ID card.