Tax Free to be available at all border customs points

The Tax Free system will be applied at all border customs points of Azerbaijan in the shortest time, said Aydin Aliyev.

The Chairman of the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee told Trend that the purpose of the Tax Free system is to ensure sustainability of the work carried out in recent years in the tourism sector and to strengthen the competitiveness of the Azerbaijani economy.

“This system is currently being used at the international airports of the country,” he said, adding that 130 countries that apply the value added tax joined the Tax Free system.

“The application of this system will attract foreign tourists to Azerbaijan, these tourists will buy more goods, and this in turn will lead to an increase of the volume of retail trade turnover, stimulation of the manufacture of export-oriented products and at the same time the inflow of foreign currency into the country,” he added.

In order to use the Tax Free system, the price of goods purchased through a single e-invoice must not be less than 300 manats ($176) (including VAT).

The goods must be exported from the territory of Azerbaijan within 90 days from the date of purchase. After the period expires, the amount of VAT paid for the goods, will not be refunded.

The VAT rate on all goods in Azerbaijan is 18 percent. Regardless of the way of transfer, 20 percent will be deducted from the VAT amount as the payment for service, and the rest sum will be refunded.

At present, the Tax Free system does not apply to excisable goods and foodstuffs; medications and medical equipment; products, exempt from VAT in the country; goods which may require an export license; raw or ungraded precious gemstones; precious metal ingots; goods exported from the territory of Azerbaijan in an unaccompanied baggage; vehicles and spare parts; goods exported by mail or through the Internet.

Aliyev also spoke of the future plans of the Committee saying that in 2017, the agency targets to integrate into the ASAN Pay portal a mechanism for paying various fines for violation of customs rules.

ASAN (Azerbaijan Service and Assessment Network) is a state agency for provision of government services to citizens in Azerbaijan.

The Chairman recalled that since November last year, it became possible in the service centers of ASAN to extend the period of temporarily imported cars’ stay in Azerbaijan.

"Azerbaijan is heading towards a post-oil era and the customs authorities play an important role in the implementation of the new economic policy of the country," Aliyev said. "The customs bodies have important tasks to ensure economic security of Azerbaijan against the backdrop of supporting the development of entrepreneurship and the new realities of the country."

Therefore, in order to reduce risks and simplify customs procedures, it is very important to apply the newest technologies and advanced methods in the relations between customs and business, he added.

"In this context, rendering even more customs services by the ASAN service is one of the priorities of Customs Committee," he said.

In case the global financial and economic crisis continues, Azerbaijan may further reduce economic relations with its foreign partners, claimed Aliyev.

He further said that Azerbaijan’s current reducing trade with its neighboring countries is natural under such circumstances.

"However, despite the decline of the imports volume, due to the devaluation of Azerbaijani national currency [in February and December 2015], the Committee ensured revenues worth 2.29 billion manats ($1.34 billion) to Azerbaijani state budget in 2016 against the forecasted 1.81 billion manats ($1.06 billion), thus exceeding the forecast of revenues by 26.6 percent," he said.

Besides, customs payments to Azerbaijani state budget for JanuaryFebruary 2017 amounted to 368.9 million manats ($216.45 million), Aliyev added, saying that this exceeds the forecasts by 62.9 million manats ($36.9 million).

"However, given the economic crisis, each country should keep development of new entrepreneurship a priority, which plays an important role in the development of the national economy," he noted.

"From this point of view, decrees and orders of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev play a stimulating role in the import substitution," he said, stressing that Azerbaijan is already producing enough goods that can meet the needs of the population in food, construction and manufacturing spheres.