BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 19. Over 400
million manat ($235.2 million) have been returned to consumers
since the start of the project to refund part of the VAT (Value
Added Tax) in Azerbaijan, Trend reports via the State Tax Service under
Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Economy.
Only from January through February of this year, more
than 24.7 million manat ($14.5 million) were returned to
consumers.
In order to receive a refund of a certain part of VAT,
the consumer, that is, the party making the purchase or using the
service, must be an individual, and the seller or the party
providing the service must be a VAT payer.
In 2022, more than 68.4 million manat ($40.2 million)
of VAT were returned to consumers for non-cash purchases of goods
or services.
At the end of last year, Azerbaijan increased the VAT
refund for cashless payments. This issue was discussed at the
Azerbaijani Parliament’s meeting on December 9.
The relevant draft proposes to reduce VAT refund
during cash transactions from 10 to 5 percent and increase it from
15 to 17.5 percent for cashless payments in order to promote
non-cash transactions. The bill was put to the vote and adopted in
the third reading.