33rd Session of the SME Development Sub-Council Led by RA Minister of Economy Gevorg Papoyan

On May 16, the 33rd session of the SME Development Sub-Council was held under the chairmanship of the RA Minister of Economy, Gevorg Papoyan.

The agenda included issues identified within the research on a comprehensive legislative framework regulating e-commerce in Armenia and possible solutions to these issues. In particular:

• Consider amendments to regulations related to payment services that would allow e-commerce platforms and courier service providers to receive payments without being considered commercial intermediaries, possibly through the implementation of a special account mechanism;

• Expand the permissible cases for issuing receipts through Electronic Cash Registers (ECRs);

• Explore the possibility of introducing mechanisms allowing e-commerce platforms to issue tax invoices on behalf of sellers represented on the platform, with their consent;

• Establish a unified procedure for VAT declarations on electronic services provided from foreign countries to Armenian residents, regardless of whether the recipient is a VAT payer;

• Allow the e-commerce platform through which the sale occurs to submit VAT declarations for electronic services provided from foreign countries to Armenian residents;

• Adopt sub-legislative acts and implement technical solutions that would enable the use of accompanying postal shipment documents as export declarations for sales to individuals outside of Armenia. These documents would be electronically linked to the relevant tax documents, eliminating the requirement to include the buyer’s address and passport details in the accounting documents.

The members of the SME Development Council expressed their positions on the matter. Representatives from the State Revenue Committee (SRC) and the Central Bank of Armenia also gave speeches.

As a result of joint discussions, the representatives of the SRC accepted the existing gaps in the law, and it was decided that consultations on these matters will continue. The Investment Council of Armenia, together with council members and SRC partners, will work on drafting the project.

The research on mapping issues related to e-commerce was conducted with the support of CIPE | Center for International Private Enterprise.