YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS. The Government of Armenia has approved amendments to the tax code which is aimed at returning 56 billion drams of VAT obligations back to businesses.

State Revenue Committee President Davit Ananyan said at the Cabinet meeting that debit balances or “over-payments” exist in terms of VAT which have appeared from the VAT paid to suppliers in tax estimates presented to tax bodies or VAT charged by customs bodies and the obligation’s negative difference.

“Now we have old and new debit amounts. New debit amounts are returned every three-months, while old debit amounts are directed only for the payment of upcoming VAT obligations. With this decision we are eliminating the differentiation of the old and new debits”, he said.

Ananyan said businesses having up to 5 million drams debt will be given back the VAT amounts without applying to the tax bodies, while a simplified procedure will be in place for businesses having 5-40 million drams of debt (businesses will submit an application and the amounts will be returned without studies). Businesses having more than 40 million drams debt will be granted the VAT return upon validating the paperwork and on principles of substantiation.

“The state owes 56 billion 443 million drams to those having old debits”, he said, adding that there are nearly 9000 businesses having debit that pay VAT, 3 thousand of whom are those having old debits.

Ananyan said as of January 2018 they owed the taxpaying companies 275 billion drams. “If we are regulating the issue of the 50 billion drams today, we are having only 72-75 billion drams of current obligations, which are formalized and paid. This has reduced to 50 billion. In 2020 we can announce that in two years we have lowered by 220 billion drams our debt to the businesses, something that is appropriate to a strong state”.

PM Nikol Pashinyan  said that his will mean that the government will finance the economy by 220 billion drams. “Basically no one even hoped they will get this 56 billion drams. This opportunity came up from the fact that the budget revenues have increased this year”, the PM said.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan