Imported goods used as raw material in Armenia will be exempt from the value added tax (VAT) at the border. Deputy minister of economy Armen Arzumanyan said this during Monday’s National Assembly debates on the bill on amendments and addenda to the respective law.
According to the deputy minister, currently a significant number of enterprises operating in the industrial sector of Armenia import raw material and materials that simply do not exist in the country. However, they are necessary to obtain a final product and to carry out production.
"When crossing the customs territory of Armenia, during the import of these goods, value added tax is charged, which requires additional financial expenses from industrial companies," Arzumanyan noted.
In particular, these products include hatching eggs for breed chickens and broilers, seed material of breed animals, as well as seed barley, oats, and wheat gluten. In addition, cardboard and tin boxes and packaging materials, as well as cotton and synthetic thread, have been put on the list.
As per Arzumanyan, the exemption of VAT at Armenia’s customs office for the aforementioned products will help the businesses save their working capital and pay VAT only in case of sale of their finished product.
"However, the adoption of these additions can only temporarily affect the tax revenues of the state budget. The monetary impact can be neutral," added the representative of the Armenian government.
