Tax, Customs, and Legal Affairs Working Group

The next meeting of the Tax, Customs, and Legal Affairs Working Group of AHK Azerbaijan was held at the AHK Azerbaijan office on October 8, 2024. Proposals related to tax laws and administrative processes were discussed. The main objective of the meeting was to gather proposals from member companies on tax legislation and administration to be submitted to the State Tax Service.

Ms Aytekin Sirajzade, Acting Executive Director of AHK Azerbaijan, opened the meeting by welcoming the participants and handed over the floor to Ms. Gunel Sadiyeva, Chairperson of the Tax, Customs and Legal Affairs Working Group.

In her speech, Ms Sadiyeva provided detailed information based on the participants’ questions and suggestions regarding issues such as credit and taxation under the legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan, tax exemption of interest income on bank deposits, and the concepts of charter capital and nominal value for start-ups.

Ms Sadiyeva also informed the participants about one of the future projects, Carbon Taxes, which would tax the production and import of products. Based on participants' views, discussions were also held around additional conditions for entrepreneurial activities.

The meeting concluded with an active exchange of views and a “Q&A” session.

On Tuesday, 25 June 2024, a business trip to the Alat Free Economic Zone (AFEZ) took place within the framework of the AHK Azerbaijan Tax, Customs, and Legal Affairs Working Group.

Participants had the incredible opportunity to explore the ongoing developments in the AFEZ and engage in a productive meeting with Mr Valeh Alasgarov, Chairman of the Board of Directors at the AFEZ.

Chairman Alasgarov delivered a comprehensive presentation on the potential uses of the zone, highlighting the numerous opportunities and benefits for investors. He provided legislative insights and shared experiences, captivating participants with the fascinating story of how the Republic of Ireland transformed from one of the poorest countries in Europe to a leading exporter. His insights extended beyond the Republic of Ireland to include China’s success and India’s challenges in economic zone development. He detailed the unique features of AFEZ and its distinction from similar entities worldwide, emphasizing its significant impact on Azerbaijan's economy.

The visit included an informative internal tour of the Free Economic Zone, addressing key issues of interest to companies, and concluded with an engaging Q&A session.

On May 14, 2024, the next meeting of the Tax, Customs, and Legal Affairs Working Group of AHK Azerbaijan was held at the AHK Azerbaijan office, where the topic of Sustainable Development and ESG Awareness was discussed.

Opening the meeting, the chairwoman of the Tax, Customs, and Legal Affairs Working Group, Ms Gunel Sadiyeva, greeted the participants. After introducing the speakers to the guests, she informed the participants about the course of the meeting and the preparations in Azerbaijan related to COP-29. She then gave the floor to Ms Leyla Sadikhova, Senior Legal Manager of PwC Azerbaijan.

Participating as a speaker, Ms Sadikhova spoke about sustainable development on an international level, the adopted conventions, and the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. She particularly emphasised that most of the development goals set out are related to the environment. During her speech, Ms Sadikhova discussed sustainable development's Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors. She noted that the Environmental factor includes climate change, environmental degradation, and ecosystem disruptions; the Social factor includes gender issues, inclusivity, and labour relations; and the Governance factor encompasses organisational structure, compensation, diversity, and equality.

Ms. Sadikhova provided detailed information to the event participants about Azerbaijan 2030 - National Priorities for Socio-Economic Development. These priorities include a sustainable and competitive economy, the Great Return to the liberated territories, a clean environment, and a "Green Growth" country. During her presentation, she also addressed the opportunities and advantages that sustainable development in the financial sector offers for businesses. Concluding her speech, she handed over the floor to Ms Gunay Asgarova, Senior Assurance Manager at PwC Azerbaijan.

Ms Asgarova, in turn, greeted the participants and began her speech by discussing the support for stakeholder engagement in the development of the ESG Strategy, goals and commitments related to the Environmental, Social, and Governance aspects of the ESG strategy, initiatives for sustainable development, and reporting that describes the progress of the work. She concluded her speech by providing detailed information on the implementation of the five phases of the ESG system and thanked the participants.

The meeting concluded with an active exchange of ideas and a Q&A session.

On 21 December 2023, a joint meeting of the AHK Azerbaijan HR and VET and Tax, Customs, and Legal Affairs Working Groups took place at the AccessBank Azerbaijan CJSC Head Office with the participation of more than 40 company representatives. Ms Gulnar Gurbanova, Vice Chairperson for Legal Affairs within the Tax, Customs and Legal Affairs Working Group representing BHM Law Firm, and Mr Fuad Heydarov, Head of the Department of Labor Policy of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population, participated as speakers in the meeting.
 
Ms Nigar Huseynzade, Chairperson of HR and VET Working Group from AccessBank CJSC greeted the participants and opened the meeting with a brief welcome speech in which she presented the meeting agenda. Taking the floor, Ms Gurbanova greeted the participants in her turn and began her speech by explaining the main changes and innovations made in the Labor Code this year. At the same time, Ms Gurbanova shared the business survey results and listed the problems and desired expectations related to the Labor Code.
 
Following this, Ms Gurbanova gave the floor to Mr Heydarov. Mr Heydarov informed the participants about the activities of social partnership principles. He also talked about new projects and anticipated amendments in 2024. Later, Mr Heydarov discussed the current problems in the Labour and Employment Subsystem with the participants.

The event continued with a lively question-and-answer session.

On December 7, 2023, the next meeting of the Tax, Customs and Legal Affairs Working Group was held at the AHK Azerbaijan office. Changes made in the Tax Legislation for 2024 were discussed at the meeting. The event speakers were Mr Avaz Guliyev, deputy head of the State Tax Service's tax policy department, and Ahmad Ahmadov, head of the legislative monitoring and business administration department of the State Tax Service.

First of all, the Chairman of Tax, Customs and Legal Affairs Working Group, Tax Director of PwC Azerbaijan, Ms Gunel Sadiyeva, greeted the representatives of the participating companies and gave brief information about the progress of the meeting. Then Ms Sadiyeva passed the floor to Mr Guliyev. Mr Guliyev gave a presentation about the scope of the main directions of the new changes. He also gave detailed information about the tax changes that will take place in the finance, agriculture, transport, tourism and health sectors.
Furthermore Mr Guliyev also touched on the issue of improving tax administrators. Finally, Mr Guliyev informed the participants about the new upcoming measurements to strengthen the fight against shadow economy and tax evasion.

At the end of the meeting, a multilateral discussion was held under the moderation of Ms Sadiyeva. The event ended with a Q&A session.

Am 20. Mai 2021 fand das Online-Meeting der Arbeitsgruppe für Steuern, Zoll und Rechtsfragen der AHK Aserbaidschan mit über 30 Unternehmensvertretern statt. Im Mittelpunkt des Treffens stand Schutz der Rechte des geistigen Eigentums durch den Zoll in Aserbaidschan.

Tobias Baumann, Vorstandsmitglied der AHK Aserbaidschan, eröffnete die Sitzung und dankte dem Staatlichen Zollkomitee für die enge Zusammenarbeit mit der Kammer und für die Beiträge zur Arbeit der Arbeitsgruppe und betonte die Bedeutung des Themas, einschliesslich der Vertriebsrechte und der Bekämpfung von Produktfälschungen. Das Treffen wurde von Nigar Bayramli, der stellvertretenden Geschäftsführerin der AHK Aserbaidschan, moderiert. Die Gastredner von dem staatlichen Zollkomitee waren Samad Garalov, Leiter der Hauptabteilung für Zollkontrolle und Handelserleichterung, Jeyhun Najafli, Leiter der Abteilung Handelserleichterung, Mahmud Nuriyev, Leiter der Abteilung für Aussenhandel, welche ihre Erfahrungen auf diesem Gebiet mit den Teilnehmern geteilt haben.

Turkan Hajiyeva, Managerin für Unternehmens- und Finanzwesen bei der Kanzlei BHM, berührte bei dem Treffen die aktuellen Probleme im Zusammenhang mit dem Schutz der geistigen Eigentumsrechte in Aserbaidschan.

Die Online-Veranstaltung war interaktiv und nach den Präsentationen beantworteten die Gastredner Fragen der Teilnehmer.

On November 14, 2023, the next meeting of the Tax, Customs and Legal Affairs Working Group was organized for companies that are members of AHK Azerbaijan in the Shamakhi Hall of the Hyatt Regency Meeting and Conference Center. The chairman of the working group, Ms Gunel Sadiyeva, welcomed the participating companies and gave brief information about the progress of the meeting. Also, Ms Sadiyeva expressed her special thanks to PwC Azerbaijan for their support in holding the meeting.

In the first half of the event, Mr Jeyhun Ismayilov, Deputy Head of the General Department of International Taxation and Tax Monitoring, gave detailed information to the participants about the main principles and standards of tax base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) and talked about their application in Azerbaijan. Mr Ismayilov also provided detailed information on the changes in advance arrangement of transfer pricing methods (APA) and tax accounting of Non-Residents.

In the second half of the meeting, Mr Ismayilov completed his speech by giving information about the approach to the minimum rules of "Global Rules" (GloBE) and agreement-based rules. Later, the event continued with a question-and-answer session moderated by Ms Sadiyeva.

At the end of the event, the participants of the meeting were informed about the appointment of Mr Elvin Aliyev, the head of the customs department of Autocapital-Azerbaijan LLC, to the position of the new vice-chairman for customs issues in the Tax, Customs and Legal Affairs Working Group.

Additionally, on behalf of AHK Azerbaijan, we express our special gratitude to PwC Azerbaijan for sponsoring the event.

On September 27, 2023, the next meeting of AHK Azerbaijan Tax, Customs and Legal Issues Working Group was held with the participation of more than 30 company representatives. At the meeting, discussions were held about the draft of the Competition Code submitted to the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and then the scope of issues and questions of interest to the members of AHK Azerbaijan was determined.

Declaring the meeting open, Ms Gunel Sadiyeva welcomed the participants and said that she believes that the meeting will be a good opportunity to prepare for the AHK Impuls event.

In her speech, Ms Gunel Sadiyeva touched on changes in the field of competition and anti-monopoly. In addition, negotiations on deals and contracts were held with the working group. The importance of the independence of the competition body was also emphasised and the participants exchanged ideas among themselves. Then, the working group held a discussion on the policy of monopoly and monopolistic companies.

The meeting was moderated by Ms Gunel Sadiyeva, with active discussions among the participants. Also, during the meeting, the event participants shared their experiences and opinions regarding the fields they work in. At the end of the event, suggestions and suggestions were collected from the participants for the planned AHK Impuls event.

On June 12, 2023, the next meeting of the AHK Azerbaijan Tax, Customs, and Legal Affairs Working Group took place with the participation of more than 20 participants. The meeting revolved around the key topics concerning tax, customs, and legal affairs in Azerbaijan, aiming to set an annual agenda for the Working Group for the second half of 2023.

Opening the meeting, Ms Aytekin Sirajzade welcomed the participants and introduced Ms Gunel Sadiyeva, the new Chairperson of the Tax, Customs, and Legal Affairs Working Group, and Ms Gulnar Gurbanova, the Vice Chairperson for Legal Affairs. She expressed her hopes that the meeting would serve as a platform for preparing for the upcoming AHK Impuls event with Mr Shahin Baghirov, Chairman of the State Customs Committee.

In her welcoming notes, Ms Gunel Sadiyeva shared her main goals for the working group, which were to be more active and hold regular meetings and to become a practical and helpful instrument for the whole business community. Ms Gulnar Gurbanova added that the meeting could be considered a kick-off meeting in a way and called on the participants to use this opportunity to address the challenges they face in related fields.

The meeting continued with a session on introductions and gathering ideas from the participants, which Ms Gunel Sadiyeva moderated. During the meeting, it was agreed that the Tax, Customs, and Legal Affairs Working Group would focus on addressing key challenges in tax transparency, customs procedures, trade facilitation, and antimonopoly regulations.

On 23 February 2023, the roundtable discussions within the framework of the Tax, Customs and Legal Affairs Working Group took place with the participation of more than 30 company representatives. The meeting revolved around the areas for improvement in tax legislation and tax administration procedures, including their practical or technical aspects.

Opening the meeting, Mr Farid Isayev, Chairperson of the Tax, Customs and Legal Affairs Working Group, welcomed the participants and gave information about the recent initiative to submit proposals and recommendations of the member companies to the State Tax Service. We were joined by Mr Arif Guliyev, Advisor at the State Tax Service, who talked about the new structural changes and establishment of an independent Institute of Tax Ombudsman providing proposals and recommendations direct to the Chief of the State Tax Service. The main purpose is to protect the rights of the taxpayers.

The meeting continued with a session on gathering ideas from the participants, which Mr Farid Isayev moderated. During the meeting, the process of VAT returns, taxation procedures, taxation of physical persons and daily challenges faced by the member companies were discussed, and it was agreed that the Tax, Customs and Legal Affairs Working Group would gather these ideas and send them as proposals and recommendations to the State Tax Service.