At January 15 sitting, the NA Standing Committee on Economic Affairs debated a number of draft laws.
After the adoption in the first reading of the legislative package On Making Addenda to the Law on the Export of Dual Purpose Goods, Their Transit Transportation through the Republic of Armenia, as well as Control over the Transfer of Dual Purpose Information and Intellectual Activity Results and On Making Addenda to the Law on Licensing were only of substantive character. The RA Minister of High-Tech Industry Mkhitar Hayrapetyan informed this.
According to the Minister, the main goal is to ensure a favourable business environment, especially for large technology companies.
The Head of the RA Cadastre Suren Tovmasyan Committee presented addenda being proposed for debate to the RA Tax Code.
It was noted that the amended regulation will apply to legal relations arising from January 1, 2021. That is, when the rectifications are made, the property tax calculation mechanism will operate accordingly, and the citizen will pay the difference, and the penalties calculated for the difference will be zeroed after the adoption of the law.
The parliament has already adopted in the first reading the legislative package proposing amendments to the law On Trade and Services authored by the NA deputies Alkhas Ghazaryan, Hakob Arshakyan, Babken Tunyan, Sona Ghazaryan, Arusyak Julhakyan, Arsen Torosyan, Mariam Poghosyan and Hasmik Hakobyan and the enclosed laws.
After the first reading the Government presented one proposal of technical amendment. The co-author Alkhas Ghazaryan voiced her proposal, which was also of technical character.
The amendments and addenda to the Law on Precious Metals were also debated in the second reading. The RA Deputy Minister of Economy Edgar Zakaryan clarified that the beneficiaries of the initiative are those who have the right to produce and sell precious jewelry, who do so with the availability of a special logo.
After the first reading amendments were made. By the key rapporteur’s proposal, the law will enter into force after 6 months of the official publication. The Deputy Minister of Economy Sevak Mikayelyan informed this. He clarified that the fine regime for business is being somewhat eased. The current legislation stipulates a uniform fine for all economic entities in case of violations regarding the use of cash register receipts. It is proposed that in the event of technical problems with the Foreign Economic Activity codes, a warning be issued for the first violation, and in the event of repeating the same violation within a year, a fine of 50,000 AMD will be imposed, instead of the current 200,000 and minimum thresholds. In other cases, when a violation of the operation of the cash register receipt will lead to an understatement of budget receipts or amounts, no change will be provided. According to the Deputy Minister, this is an important change, especially for small and medium-size businesses. Thus, the expression ‘product code’ will be replaced by the expression Foreign Economic Activity/FEC code. The date of adoption of the law will also change: instead of January 1, 2025, it will come into force on March 3.
The next proposed amendment to the Tax Code of the Republic of Armenia also concerns the easing of administration for SMEs and the application of fair and proportionate approaches. There were no changes between the first and second readings.
At the proposal of a government representative, the law will enter into force the day after its publication and will apply to relations arising from January 1.
The debate s of the draft law on proposed addenda and amendments being proposed to the Tax Code authored by the Government and the legislative package On Making Addenda and Amendments to the Tax Code of the Republic of Armenia and On Making Amendments to the Law HO-285-N of June 12, 2024 On Making Amendments to the Tax Code of the Republic of Armenia, as well as the draft laws On Making Addenda and Amendments to the Law On State Duty and On Making Amendments to the RA Tax Code submitted by NA Deputy Babken Tunyan, have been postponed for up to two months.