Armenia is offering to extend the customs privileges for repatriates and facilitate the existing procedures. This is what author of the bill on making amendments and supplements to the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On customs regulation”, deputy of the My Step faction of the National Assembly Sisak Gabrielyan said during a discussion on the bill held by the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs of the National Assembly today.

According to him, based on the existing legislation, repatriates who have returned to the homeland for permanent residency may benefit from customs privileges, if they have not lived in the territory of Armenia over the past 5 years.

“This provision is actually acceptable for citizens who not only haven’t been in Armenia over the past five years, but also lack Armenian citizenship and registration in the territory of Armenia,” Gabrielyan said. This means that if a person who left Armenia 10 years ago, didn’t sell his or her apartment and is still registered at any address in the territory of Armenia, he or she can’t benefit from this privilege. However, the bill states that if the relevant authorized body (Department of Passports and Visas) truly establishes that the particular person hasn’t been in Armenia over the past five years, he or she will be issued a certificate stating that he or she does not have a permanent residence in the territory of Armenia.

Later, the citizen can address the customs service on the ground of the issued certificate and can, in the course of 18 months, import his or her assets to the country without paying taxes. However, the person can only import from the country from which he or she had intended to move to Armenia for permanent residency.

The bill was approved by the Committee after rather long discussions.