Azerbaijan is preparing to introduce a mechanism for pre-filling tax declarations for micro-entrepreneurs. The aim of the innovation is to reduce the administrative burden on businesses and simplify the fulfilment of tax obligations.
The announcement was made by Samir Khaligov, head of the Main Department for Tax Risk Management at the State Tax Service (STS) under the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan, FinFly reports.
According to him, the STS views digitalisation not only as a tax control tool but also as a means of improving the quality of services for taxpayers and their satisfaction levels.
"Our basic principle is not to require an entrepreneur to resubmit data that the state has already received, and to simplify the fulfilment of tax obligations as much as possible," Khaligov noted.
He pointed out that one of the key innovations is the pre-filling of declarations — the pre-filling mechanism. This approach, already used for simplified tax declarations, is expected to be extended to micro-entrepreneurs in the coming days.
"The system pre-fills the relevant lines of the declaration based on available data, and taxpayers check and confirm this data," he said.
Khaligov added that work is also underway to introduce the option of filing declarations via a mobile app. This function is particularly important for micro-entrepreneurs who have limited access to desktop computers. Another priority is expanding the pre-filling mechanism for value-added tax (VAT) declarations.
The STS representative stressed the importance of expanding data exchange between government agencies and integrating information systems as part of digital tax administration.
"Currently, the State Tax Service receives data from 35 government agencies and provides data to 42 government agencies," he said.
According to him, the main goal of such integration is to improve the efficiency and quality of services through the mutual use of data held by government agencies, as well as to strengthen inter-agency coordination. Digital data exchange not only expands tax control capabilities but also improves the efficiency of government agencies while reducing the administrative burden on entrepreneurs.
Khaligov also noted the importance of cooperation with the Ministry of Finance. According to him, as part of efforts to digitise acceptance-transfer acts related to infrastructure construction, known as "Form 2", the possibility of integrating the relevant data with the tax system is being discussed.
"I hope that this integration will help reduce the additional documentary burden on entrepreneurs," he stressed.
Another important area, the STS representative said, is improving mechanisms for aggregating bank data. According to him, receiving information in a structured form and within established deadlines will improve the accuracy of pre-filled tax declarations.
"Digitalisation, along with easing the work of taxpayers, promotes voluntary compliance with tax legislation and increases the transparency of budget revenues," Khaligov noted.