BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 31
By Zeyni Jafarov - Trend:
The work being carried out by the tax structures in the field of digitalization contributes to the stimulation of circulation of cashless payments in Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Economy told Trend on Aug. 31.
“One of the main solutions in the field of expanding the use of digital technologies to ensure the transition to the cashless payments is the introduction of modern ways of receiving payments,” the ministry said.
"An important condition for the growth of turnover of cashless payments is the expansion of the areas covered by POS terminals throughout the country,” the ministry said. “The ministry informs both business entities and citizens about their benefits daily.”
“For this purpose, the State Tax Service under the Ministry of Economy has prepared and released relevant video footages about the convenience and advantages of POS terminals for taxpayers," the message says.
A number of changes were also made to the legal framework to stimulate non-cash payments. So, the tax incentives have been applied to the legal entities and individuals working in the field of trade and catering in proportion to the amount of non-cash payments since early 2019.
The amount of the income tax for legal entities and individual entrepreneurs engaged in commercial and social activity, when selling the retail goods since early 2019 has been reduced by 25 percent for a period of three years in accordance with the Tax Code.
The turnover of plastic cards has greatly grown over the past few years in big and medium-sized retail outlets.
The turnover on payment cards through ATMs and POS terminals in Azerbaijan amounted to 3.2 billion manat ($1.9 billion) from January through July 2021, which is by 20.2 percent more than in the same period of 2020.
"All these decisions are already yielding effective results and have a positive effect on the growth rate of turnover of cashless payments and this, as a rule, increases the transparency of the economy," the message says.
The number of POS terminals in Azerbaijan amounted to 59,995 from January through July 2021, of which 40,252 were installed in Baku, 19,743 - in other cities and districts of the country. The number of POS terminals on an annualized basis increased by 4,508 or 8.1 percent.
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