Azernews.Az

By Aynur Karimova

Azerbaijan's Taxes Ministry has temporarily suspended field tax audits and measures for effective control of businesses with an annual turnover of less than 120,000 manats ($114,395) and payers of the simplified tax, according to a statement made by Taxes Minister Fazil Mammadov on October 25.

He said that audits related to the conclusion of labor contracts, and control over the use of excise stamps on the sale of excisable goods will be exceptions.

Mammadov also noted that the suspension of tax audits will affect nearly 70,000 taxpayers. In total, more that 20,000 such audits were carried out in the first nine months of this year.

"One of the tasks that the Head of State has put before the Taxes Ministry is to create a favorable business environment, to increase transparency, etc.," he added.

Mammadov also said that the payment of taxes is the constitutional duty of every citizen, and business entities should pay taxes comprehensively and on time.

The minister also stressed the necessity to set the boundary between a strict system of tax controls and inappropriate interference in business activities.

"One of the tasks of the tax bodies is to support the development of entrepreneurship, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises. In this regard, the tax service should act more as a partner of small enterprises, but not as a controlling body, and it should be one step closer to entrepreneurs," Mammadov stressed.

The taxes minister also noted that it is necessary to increase the share of participation of the country’s regions in increasing tax revenues.

"The role of regions in the economic development of the country is increasing," he said. "In this regard, the tax authorities should provide comprehensive support to entrepreneurs operating in the regions of the country, within their duties," he added.

Mammadov also stressed the necessity to intensify cooperation with taxpayers to resolve all the problems faced by entrepreneurs in tax payment.

The national tax system has passed a thorough process of modernization since the technological base of the tax system was established. The system has a wide range of technical capabilities. Today, the country's tax system offers taxpayers most of the tax services used in the most advanced countries.

According to the World Bank, Azerbaijan is on a list of 12 leading countries for the successful use of electronic taxpayer registration systems.

The Taxes Ministry provides the Azerbaijani population with 59 types of electronic services, which is the widest range of e-services delivered by state agencies. There are 481 e-services for government agencies in Azerbaijan, 320 of them are integrated into the e-government portal.

Today, businessmen in Azerbaijan can fulfill all of their obligations via the Internet, without visiting the tax authority. The filing of tax returns, fulfillment of tax obligations and all of the processes that connect users with the tax authority are available on the web. Approximately 90 percent of taxpayers now file electronic tax returns.

As a result of implemented measures, over the past 15 years, the volume of taxes and other revenues to the state budget have increased 14 times, the revenue from the non-oil sector by 14.4 times, and the proceeds from the regions by 14.8 times.

Azerbaijan also intends to continue its fruitful tax policy in the future. The priorities of the future tax policy include using modern methods of education to improve the training personnel, increasing international cooperation and integrating the tax legislation into the international tax system, the expansion of coverage and the improvement of electronic services, and the improvement of fiscal and regulatory functions of tax policy.

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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova

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