Armenian authorities preparing essential changes in submission of  individual income statements - MP

ArmInfo.Armenian authorities are preparing significant changes to the process for individuals to submit income declarations. Acting Chairman of the National Assembly Committee on Economic Affairs Babken Tunyan announced this on his  Facebook page.

He recalled that, according to current regulations, citizens are  required to log in to the relevant platform of the State Revenue  Committee and complete their declarations by November 1 of this year,  submitting them to the Committee 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 add it and approve the declaration. If  everything matches the income amount, they approve the declaration.  Tunyan noted that penalties are provided for failure to submit  declarations.

Some changes are now being proposed. Thus, if a citizen believes that  all their data, including wages and other sources of income, is  visible, they can simply choose not to log into the State Revenue  Committee's system. In this case, their income declarations, even if  they haven't been logged into the system but are visible to the State  Revenue Committee, will be considered complete. However, citizens  will not bear any liability for failure to report their income.  However, those citizens who realize that their income is invisible to  the State Revenue Committee will, after a certain period of time,  bear some liability.

At the same time, the State Revenue Committee will be provided with  an additional tool for obtaining larger volumes of information to  ensure complete declarations. If a citizen consents to the State  Revenue Committee receiving data on deposit dividends, the system  will automatically record this fact. If a citizen refuses to consent,  citizens will be required to obtain this data through their banks and  complete their declarations themselves.

Thus, as Tunyan noted, the authorities are moving from a logic of  fines to a logic of incentives. In fact, there will be no penalties  for failure to submit declarations, as such cases will not occur, but  citizens will continue to use social loans for education and  healthcare. The proposed system should simplify citizens' relations  with the state, making them more transparent.

The draft amendments to current legislation on this issue will be the  result of joint work with the Government of the Republic of Armenia  and will be submitted to the National Assembly on behalf of the Civil  Contract faction.

As a reminder, the implementation of the universal income declaration  system for all resident citizens of the Republic began in 2023. The  process is organized in three stages, with the number of individuals  required to submit declarations increasing each year. The system's  implementation will be completed in 2025. Citizens resident in the  Republic of Armenia can claim a reimbursement of social expenses from  their income tax by filing an income tax return. This option applies  to social expenses incurred by both the individual filing the return  and family members (spouse, parents, and children). Reimbursement of  expenses does not exceed 100,000 drams per reporting year.