STS collects extra $0.88bn

In 2023, in the continuation of both economic growth and transparency measures, an additional AZN1.1bn ($0,65bn) has been added to the Azerbaijani state budget, Azernews reports, citing the State Tax Service.

It was noted that tax revenues from the non-oil and gas sector continue at an increasing pace. First of all, the specific weight of voluntary contributions has increased. From 2019, the growth rate of non-oil and gas tax revenues exceeds the nominal growth rate of non-oil and gas GDP, the main reason for which is the transparency of turnover.

It was added that the number of labor contracts in Azerbaijan increased by 406.9 thousand compared to January 1, 2019 and reached 1.8m as of January 1 of the current year, including 358Kor 1.6 times in the non-oil and gas private sector.

Last year, AZB413.2m ($243m) was provided in addition to the forecast for mandatory state social insurance payments, the increase in this area was 13.3%. The growth of non-budgetary organizations was 15.1%. One of the important factors in the transparency of transactions is the widespread use of new generation cash registers. The increase in turnover of these devices continued last year and the volume of turnover reached AZN22bn ($12.9bn).

The "VAT Back" project provides important results in the direction of economic transparency along with stimulation. In 2023, AZN154.2m ($90.6m) was returned for the VAT they paid to consumers who are natural persons. Since last year, the amount of VAT refunded to consumers who pay without cash has been increased. This has actually led to the expansion of shopping with cashless payment. Last year, the volume of non-cash payments in the country increased twice compared to the previous year and amounted to 48 billion 978 million manats. This is also the contribution of tax reforms to the growth of cashless circulation.