Taxpayers `owe the state $4.2bn`
The debt owed by Azerbaijani taxpayers to the state
budget has reached $4.2 billion, an independent lawmaker said in
parliament Friday.
Vahid Ahmadov noted that the rapid increase of money owed has raised serious concerns, which have been reflected in a report issued by the Accountancy Chamber.
"This debt amounts to 73% of the funds transferred to the budget through the Ministry of Taxes, and their volume is rising by the year. The Chamber should conduct a thorough scrutiny to prevent these arrears from reaching a critical level," Ahmadov suggested.
Zahid Oruj, deputy chairman of the pro-government Ana Vatan party, listed state-run companies that owe the most to the budget, saying these include energy producer Azerenergy and the SOCAR oil company.
MP Ali Masimli said that the increasing debt on tax collections from specially-owned businesses is alarming, as these debts have now exceeded 3 billion manats ($3.75 billion). He emphasized that, though 85% of the property in Azerbaijan is privately-owned, only 25% of taxes are contributed to the state from the private sector.
However, Masimli said he had no intention to blame the problem on the Ministry of Taxes.
"I won`t, because the emergence of this situation has deep roots. Those roots should be traced and efforts made toward transferring those funds to the budget because, with the budget being short of them, the proceeds allocated from the State Oil Fund [the body that holds the country`s hefty oil revenues] increase. Whereas the Fund`s budgetary allocations constituted only 7% in 2007, as much as 35% was allotted in 2008."
Masimli estimates that the figure will reach the level of at least 40% this year and, if this troubling tendency persists, it could lead to the shrinking of the Oil Fund`s revenues in the future.
Ziyad Samadzada, chairman of the parliamentary committee on economic policy, said a number of problems have been seen with budget transfers. Thus, the share of duties collected by the Ministry of Taxes in the budgetary revenues has been reduced by 2.1% in comparison with 2007.
Vahid Ahmadov noted that the rapid increase of money owed has raised serious concerns, which have been reflected in a report issued by the Accountancy Chamber.
"This debt amounts to 73% of the funds transferred to the budget through the Ministry of Taxes, and their volume is rising by the year. The Chamber should conduct a thorough scrutiny to prevent these arrears from reaching a critical level," Ahmadov suggested.
Zahid Oruj, deputy chairman of the pro-government Ana Vatan party, listed state-run companies that owe the most to the budget, saying these include energy producer Azerenergy and the SOCAR oil company.
MP Ali Masimli said that the increasing debt on tax collections from specially-owned businesses is alarming, as these debts have now exceeded 3 billion manats ($3.75 billion). He emphasized that, though 85% of the property in Azerbaijan is privately-owned, only 25% of taxes are contributed to the state from the private sector.
However, Masimli said he had no intention to blame the problem on the Ministry of Taxes.
"I won`t, because the emergence of this situation has deep roots. Those roots should be traced and efforts made toward transferring those funds to the budget because, with the budget being short of them, the proceeds allocated from the State Oil Fund [the body that holds the country`s hefty oil revenues] increase. Whereas the Fund`s budgetary allocations constituted only 7% in 2007, as much as 35% was allotted in 2008."
Masimli estimates that the figure will reach the level of at least 40% this year and, if this troubling tendency persists, it could lead to the shrinking of the Oil Fund`s revenues in the future.
Ziyad Samadzada, chairman of the parliamentary committee on economic policy, said a number of problems have been seen with budget transfers. Thus, the share of duties collected by the Ministry of Taxes in the budgetary revenues has been reduced by 2.1% in comparison with 2007.
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