Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 21 / Trend A.Akhundov /
During the plenary session on Friday, the Milli Majlis (parliament) adopted a draft law on amendments to the Tax Code that comes into effect on January 1, 2013.
According to the chairman of the parliamentary committee on economic policy Ziyad Samadzade, in general these changes are aimed at improving the tax system, reducing the tax burden and increasing the tax culture.
Changes in tax laws consider lowering the maximum income tax rate from 30 per cent to 25 per cent and increasing the maximum monthly taxable income bracket operating at this level since 2008, from 2000 to 2500 manat. In this case, the annual income bracket taxed at a rate of 14 per cent will be increased from the current 24,000 manat to 30,000 manat. Some changes are anticipated in regards to income tax benefits as well.
According to Samadzade, as a result of these changes, annual tax breaks for individuals will exceed 50 million manat. The draft law also includes exemption from income, land and property taxes, business parks in the area of information technology and industries to be established in Azerbaijan.
"It is also planned to exempt the paid services of educational institutions from VAT (the tax rate in Azerbaijan is 18 per cent). This proposal will positively affect the development of education in the country raising the salaries of teachers,"Samadzade said.
The official exchange rate for December 21 is 0. 7848 AZN / USD.