ArmInfo.The State Revenue Committee of Armenia is initiating legislative amendments that would increase the threshold for registering a tax offense from the current 10 million drams to 30 million drams. In this regard, amendments are planned to be made to the Tax, Criminal, and Criminal Procedure Codes, the SRC press service reported.
According to the source, new crime reporting rules, improved asset confiscation procedures, and tax administration reforms for the benefit of taxpayers are also being introduced. The goal of the reforms is to ensure legal clarity, proportionate protection of the rights of business entities, and reduce the criminalization of minor cases of tax evasion while ensuring effective tax control and predictable administration. The amendments to the Criminal Code revise the threshold for the crime of tax evasion, particularly for large and especially large amounts, establishing higher thresholds. At the same time, tax liabilities incurred in one or more consecutive tax years are more clearly delineated. Thus, a large amount is defined as tax evasion exceeding 30 million drams in one tax year (or 45 million drams over two tax years), instead of 10 million drams. An especially large amount will be defined as tax evasion exceeding 50 million drams in one tax year (or 75 million drams over two years), instead of 20 million drams. This means that tax evasion in amounts below the established limits will no longer be considered a crime, and, if certain conditions are met, ongoing criminal prosecutions will be dismissed.
The amendments clarify the procedure for filing tax evasion reports, while ensuring the taxpayer's right to a hearing before the tax authority files the report. A report of a discovered crime resulting from a tax audit will be submitted if the taxpayer fails to appeal the tax authority's administrative decision within the established timeframe, and the appeal results in the administrative decision remaining sufficiently unchanged, meaning that an appeal in court will not suspend the submission of the report.
Along with the increased efficiency of tax administration, tax control tools will be introduced and procedures will be simplified. In particular, the scope of desk (internal) investigations has been expanded to include information from other sources. The requirement for a "precisely known transaction" has been removed from the thematic investigation regulations, eliminating legal uncertainty. The annual limit on conducting a thematic investigation has been lifted, allowing it to be conducted up to three times instead of once, ensuring a more rapid response to risks.
In order to improve criminal procedural procedures for the seizure of property, alternative mechanisms are being introduced to ensure the smooth operation of business entities. Instead of the seizure of property in criminal proceedings, the possibility of providing a bank guarantee is being introduced. This means that in cases provided for by law, the seizure of property will be replaced by a bank guarantee. The bank guarantee is a new feature, and its use in property seizure procedures was previously not envisaged. This means that in cases where there is a risk of non-fulfillment of tax obligations, the state will not seize the property and accounts of the business entity.
