Rustam Badasyan on the Complaints of Citizens Going Abroad for Work

During the recent government session, Rustam Badasyan, the head of the State Revenue Committee of Armenia, addressed the complaints of citizens who go abroad for work, stating that according to the tax legislation, Armenian residents are required to pay income tax on earnings both in Armenia and abroad.

He pointed out that previously there had been no legal mechanism to enforce this obligation. “In the framework of the CIS, we joined an agreement in 2020, which stipulates that tax authorities will exchange electronic information about the income earned by each other's citizens and the income tax paid. For the first time last year, we received this information and, as required by the tax code, we began to carry out administration; we informed our citizens about their existing tax obligations,” Badasyan stated.

He noted that citizens going abroad for work have also raised questions and complaints based on objective grounds. According to Badasyan, since tax obligations have never been declared or income tax paid in the past, certain penalties have been calculated upon receiving relevant information about individuals who have gone abroad for work for the first time.

“We believe that with certain legislative changes, we will be able to mitigate or eliminate these impacts and smoothly integrate a phased declaration system. After discussions with government partners, we have concluded that at this stage, if we receive information about income earned abroad and income tax paid, we can refrain from taxing the difference in Armenia for at least a certain period, responding to the objective part of these complaints,” emphasized the head of the SRC, highlighting that the phased implementation of the declaration system, which is expected to conclude in 2026, is underway to ensure that all income taxes are paid.