Civilnet
By Elen Muradyan
Armenia’s government appears to have acknowledged difficulties in implementing the new universal income declaration system, after a senior lawmaker announced plans on Monday to simplify the process amid persistently low compliance.
Babken Tunyan, deputy chair of parliament’s Economic Affairs Committee from the ruling Civil Contract party, said that citizens who have no additional income beyond what is already known to the State Revenue Committee (SRC) will no longer be required to log in and confirm their pre-filled income data.
“If there are no corrections or additional income to declare, the form will be considered automatically submitted,” he said on Facebook. “There will be no penalties for not entering the system.”
The statement effectively recognizes that the declaration process, mandatory for all citizens starting this year, has faced serious obstacles to adoption.
SRC figures obtained by Ampop Media show that as of September, only around 93,000 citizens had filed income declarations. With the new phase expected to include at least 700,000 declarants, that means only around 15% have filed so far, including public sector employees. The government had hoped that the new system, launched gradually starting in 2023, would mark a major step toward transparency, reducing undeclared income and improving targeting of social programs. But the figures indicate widespread confusion and technical challenges.
According to Ampop Media, one of the main obstacles has been the requirement for citizens to use an electronic signature linked to a national ID card to validate their declaration. Large backlogs at passport offices, with more than 43,000 ID applications filed by late July, have led to long queues and delays. Authorities say production capacity has since increased to 2,200 cards a day, but uncertainty remains over whether all applicants will receive them before the November 1 deadline. Many citizens have reported that the system is complicated and poorly explained.
Under current law, those who fail to submit on time face fines of 5,000 drams ($13), and up to 50,000 drams ($130) for property owners. SRC officials have said that citizens who lack ID cards will not be penalized, but have not clarified how that will be verified. To encourage compliance, the government has linked participation in the declaration process with eligibility for reimbursements of up to 100,000 ($260) drams for education or healthcare expenses. As of early August, about 43,000 citizens had received refunds totaling 3.7 billion drams ($9,7M).
Tunyan’s proposal would preserve these “motivational” mechanisms while reducing punitive measures. Citizens who wish to claim cashbacks or other credits will still need to log into the system and confirm their declaration.
Critics, however, say the problems run deeper. Former SRC chairman Davit Ananyan told Ampop Media the system has drifted from its original goal of cultivating a taxpaying culture and now risks becoming an inefficient administrative burden. He argued that it should have been implemented alongside a reform of property taxation, allowing undeclared assets to be brought into the legal economy.
Others, such as Nairi Sargsyan, head of the Chamber of Auditors, have warned that the new reporting rules could undermine bank secrecy and expand government surveillance over personal finances.
“The declaration process gives authorities and some organizations the power to compile individual financial profiles on every citizen,” he said.
Despite the growing criticism, officials insist the system’s primary aim is not to impose new taxes but to compile comprehensive income statistics to guide social policy. Finance Ministry representative Ori Alaverdyan said the data would help the state “better target its programs to citizens who genuinely need support.”
Yet with fewer than one in six citizens having submitted declarations and the November deadline approaching, the government now faces mounting pressure to show results. Tunyan said the Civil Contract faction will introduce the simplification bill “in an accelerated procedure” to ensure it takes effect before the deadline.
Also read: EXPLAINER: Armenia’s New Income Declaration System: Step-By-Step Guide
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