Business Operator Exploited Tuff Quarry Without License in Aragatsotn: Tax Authority

The Investigation and Operational Intelligence Department of the State Revenue Committee has uncovered yet another case of illegal mining activity. Specifically, the Department's Sectoral Division No. 5 received information that mining operations were being conducted without the necessary permits at the "Hayq" site of the Mastara tuff quarry in the Aragatsotn region.

Based on the information received, employees of Sectoral Division No. 5 carried out preparatory and verification work. Subsequently, comprehensive operational and investigative measures were developed and implemented against the company. It was discovered that the company operated the "Hayq" site of the Mastara tuff quarry without the proper mining permit.

Illegally, the company extracted at least 19,302 cubic meters of mining material from the quarry, resulting in 6,755 cubic meters of finished tuff stone product, which was sold for an average of 7,386 AMD per cubic meter. The company had not submitted any tax calculations or reports to the appropriate authorities regarding this activity. As a result of the company's operations, approximately 8.3 million AMD in environmental tax and natural resource payments remained uncalculated, while the sales turnover was underreported by about 41 million AMD.

Considering the objectives of the operational intelligence activities and to prevent violations of legal acts that grant oversight powers to the tax authority, the company submitted revised tax calculations for sales tax, environmental tax, and natural resource payments. Efforts are underway to recover the unpaid tax liabilities.

The SRC’s Investigation and Operational Intelligence Department urges citizens and business entities to refrain from using natural resources or subsoil without permits or licenses; otherwise, they will be held liable to the fullest extent of the law. According to Article 408 of the RA Tax Code, anyone found using subsoil or natural resources without permission or a license during operational intelligence measures will incur a fine equal to ten times the state duty rate for obtaining a license or permit, and in cases of repeated violations within one year, the penalty shall be twenty times the state duty rate, but not less than 1 million AMD.