Products Purchased from Duty-Free Shops May Appear on Online Sales Platforms, Says Head of Tax Authority

Parliament is discussing a draft amendment to the law on "Customs Regulation," under which permits for commercial activities in customs control zones will be granted on a competitive basis. In addition, the operations of duty-free shops will be aligned with the standards of the Customs Union.

Addressing the competitions for commercial activity permits, Badasyan elaborated: "This pertains not only to 'duty-free shops' but, for instance, you may have noticed that branches of commercial banks operate at customs checkpoints. We have recorded that in many cases, it is unclear why that particular bank was chosen and not another."

Regarding 'duty-free shops,' Badasyan highlighted that there are numerous risks: "There is no electronic system in place to exchange information with the customs body about the quantities of purchases being made. For example, one individual can make purchases in such quantities that they are clearly pursuing commercial goals, and then those products appear on list.am and other websites."